Venezuela's Chavez sends troops to Colombian border

Tyler Bridges and Sibylla Brodzinsky | Miami Herald

BOGOTA _ Venezuelan President Hugo Ch�vez ordered 10 battalions, including tanks, to the border with Colombia and closed Venezuela's embassy in Bogota Sunday, warning Colombia not to pursue rebels into Venezuela.

''We don't want war, but we aren't ging to permit the U.S. empire nor its lapdog to come weaken us," Ch�vez said on his radio program.

Ch�vez's move came a day after the Colombian army crossed a mile into Ecuador to attack a jungle camp maintained by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, and killed its second-ranking leader, known as Ra�l Reyes. FARC rebels have long been known to use remote parts of Ecuador and Venezuela to rest up, treat their wounded and resupply. Ch�vez also asked for a moment of silence to honor the slain FARC leader, killed along with 16 other guerrillas.

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