Colombia, Ecuador and Venezuela agree to end crisis

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic — South American presidents reached a testy compromise Friday to resolve a dangerous crisis triggered by a Colombian military attack in Ecuador, stepping back from a week of insults, troop movements and talk of war.

After an emotional debate followed on live television throughout Latin America, the presidents of Colombia, Venezuela and Ecuador offered one another stiff handshakes and joined other Latin American presidents in approving a declaration resolving to work for a peaceful end to the crisis.

The statement notes that Colombian President Alvaro Uribe apologized for the March 1 raid that killed 25 people including a senior rebel commander, and that he pledged not to violate another nation's sovereignty again.

But it also committed all the countries to fight threats to national stability from "irregular or criminal groups," a reference to Colombia's accusation that its two neighbors have ties to Colombian rebels.

In the end, even Ecuador's Rafael Correa — who was brimming with anger during the debate — seemed satisfied.

"With the commitment to never again attack a brother country and the request for forgiveness, we can consider this grave incident as over," he said.

The leaders immediately began to reverse their steps toward conflict.

Colombia pledged not to follow through on its threat to seek genocide charges against Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez at an international court. Nicaragua said it would restore diplomatic relations with Colombia, broken off the day before. Chávez said trade with Colombia should "keep increasing," two days after saying he didn't want even "a grain of rice" from his neighbor.

"We're going to begin to de-escalate," Chávez said. "Hopefully this compromise will be honored so this never happens again."

But the agreement didn't eliminate the causes of the crisis: a Colombian insurgency that has spilled across its borders, and a stalemate over international efforts to facilitate a swap of rebel-held hostages for Colombian prisoners.

The showdown underscored Latin America's swerve to the left in recent years — and the increasing isolation of Colombia's center-right government, Washington's strongest ally in Latin America.

The U.S. was the only country in the Americas to offer Colombia unqualified support in the dispute.

Correa, Chávez and Ortega, all leftists aligned against Washington, were the most strident in confronting Uribe, but even more centrist leaders from Argentina, Brazil and Chile lectured him.

The day's loudest applause came when Correa made a final appeal to Uribe to respect their border, saying otherwise no nation can be safe.

The summit featured hours of finger-jabbing lectures, angry speeches and pleas for goodwill.

Bolivian President Evo Morales blamed the U.S. for dividing a peaceful Latin America, declaring that over the decades false labels such as "communist," "drug trafficker," and — since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks — "terrorist" have ruined lives and justified wars across the region.

In Havana, former Cuban President Fidel Castro welcomed the outcome reached at the summit, saying the only loser was U.S. "imperialism."

Noting that no U.S. diplomats were present, Castro wrote in a statement that "peace was immediately sealed, along with the knowledge that we are not obligated to wage war among nations that share solid ties of brotherhood."