Colombia's neighbors worry about spill-over of war

By Marco Aquino

LIMA, Peru, Feb 21 (Reuters) - Colombia's neighbors reinforced security along their borders and braced for a possible influx of refugees on Thursday as Latin American governments reacted with concern to renewed hostilities between the Colombian government and Marxist guerrillas. 

Colombian warplanes bombed guerrilla camps in a southern enclave on Thursday after President Andres Pastrana ended a three-year peace process following the hijacking of a domestic airliner by the rebels who abducted a senator on board. 

Four of the five Latin American nations with borders with Colombia -- Venezuela, Panama, Ecuador and Peru -- said they were taking precautions to prevent a spill-over into their territories of the 38-year-old Colombian war which has claimed 40,000 mostly civilian lives in the past decade alone. 

Brazil, which shares a 1,000-mile (1,600 km) frontier with Colombia, has announced no measures to tighten its border. 

But the six countries that make up South America's Mercosur trade bloc, including Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay and associate members Chile and Bolivia, expressed "grave concern over the recent events and acts of violence" that have lead to the disintegration of peace talks in Colombia. 

Mercosur countries "make a passionate call for the total respect of human rights and the principles of international human rights," said a joint declaration from the governments of the world's No. 3 trade bloc. 

Venezuela, which shares a border of 1,380 miles (2,220 km) of mountain, jungle and savanna with its Andean neighbor, said it was bracing for a possible influx of refugees. 

"The events currently taking place will naturally have repercussions for our country which we have foreseen," Foreign Minister Luis Alfonso Davila told reporters. 

Pastrana on Wednesday night declared dead tortuous peace negotiations with the 17,000-strong Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, known by the Spanish initials FARC. 

He ordered the country's armed forces to retake control of a Switzerland-sized FARC-held area in south Colombia ceded to the guerrillas in late 1998 as a safe haven for peace talks. 

ALERT IN BORDER AREAS 

The Panamanian government said the Central American country was in a state of alert following the escalation of Colombia's internal conflict. Security at ports and airports was stepped up and police presence on Panama's 140-mile (225-km) border with Colombia was increased. 

"We are very concerned about the situation in Colombia and we hope things improve quickly. I have instructed higher security on our southern border with Colombia and asked Panamanians to remain calm," Panamanian President Mireya Moscoso told reporters. 

Ecuador, where several thousand Colombians have sought refuge in the past, said its armed forces and police were taking security precautions and preparing for possible movements of refuges across its northern frontier. 

"We are ready, in coordination with the United Nations, to assist these refugees. Ecuador respects human rights and will carry out its obligations in this area," Ecuadorean Foreign Minister Heinz Moeller told local television. 

Ecuador has often expressed concern about the possible cross-border escalation effects of the Pastrana government's Plan Colombia anti-drugs offensive, which is supported by more than $1 billion of U.S. aid, mostly military assistance. 

Latin American forum Grupo de Rio, which groups 19 nations, said the string of attacks by the FARC rebels in the past weeks had brought peace talks to a dead-end, "making it impossible for Pastrana's government to act in any other way." 

"The member nations of the Grupo de Rio strongly condemn the actions of terrorism, such as the hijacking and the kidnapping of Senator Jorge Eduardo Gechem Turbay," said Costa Rica in a statement. Costa Rica currently holds the presidency of the group, which includes Colombia and its neighbors. 

In Mexico, President Vicente Fox said he had spoken by telephone with Pastrana and hoped the shattered peace efforts in Colombia could be salvaged. "It's a situation that worries us and we're fully ready to back any move towards dialogue and negotiation, which is what Mexico believes in," Fox said. 

"All of us in Latin America should feel these kind of problems as if they were our own," Guatemalan President Alfonso Portillo, who was visiting Mexico, told reporters. 

Although Peru's government did not immediately comment on the Colombian situation, a military source said army and air force units were on maximum alert along its 930-mile (1,500-km) border with its Andean neighbor. 

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