President George W. Bush backed Colombia last night in an escalating Andean crisis as Venezuela moved troops to its border and Colombia accused President Hugo Chavez of genocide for sponsoring rebels.
Mr Chavez has warned war could break out after Colombia bombed inside another neighbor, Ecuador, to kill a leading FARC commander.
Mr Bush weighed in on the crisis for the first time since Saturday's raid into Ecuador. While most Latin American governments condemned Colombia, he criticized Chavez's "regime" for "provocative" actions and said the superpower opposed any act of aggression that could destabilize the region.
"Our country's message to President (Alvaro) Uribe and the people of Colombia is that we stand with our democratic ally," Mr Bush said.
Mr Chavez says Mr Bush is plotting an invasion of his OPEC nation using Colombia as a proxy. Last month, the self-styled socialist revolutionary sent crude prices higher by threatening to stop selling the United States oil if America attacks.
The conservative Mr Uribe, whose government receives billions of dollars in US military aid, threatened to take Chavez to international court for backing Colombian rebels' "genocide." Colombia says Mr Chavez, who brokered the release of hostages from rebel camps this year, recently paid the FARC $300 million.
"We are not warmongers, but we are not weak. We cannot allow terrorists who seek refuge in other countries to spill the blood of our countrymen," Mr Uribe said.
Venezuela's foreign minister dismissed Mr Uribe's charge as a laughable attempt to distract attention from the raid.
Ecuador and Venezuela have cut diplomatic ties with Colombia and rushed troops toward the frontier in the crisis. Venezuela blocked border trade for several hours on Tuesday.