US pulls strings in deadly puppet show

The attack by the Colombian military on the guerrilla group Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) on Ecuadorean territory did not come out of the blue. There had been a series of political moves and symbolic aggrandisements from the military for it to have been approved by Colombian leaders and citizens.

One of the main precursors for this attack was Colombian President Alvaro Uribe's cosy relationship with the United States. Uribe would not have done what he did in Ecuador had he not been fully backed up by the Bush Administration.

Therefore, this attack takes on a different subtext: one of the United States attempting to destabilise the growing, democratically elected governments in South America.