Attracted by the climate, favorable tax policy and laid-back lifestyle, home buyers and investors are flocking here from Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Europe and the United States.
The skyline increasingly resembles a mini-Sao Paulo, a dense forest of steel and concrete towers that includes dozens of new high-rise condominiums and apartment buildings. (Not enough of the buildings [...]

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When the Colombian military made its controversial incursion into neighboring Ecuador two months ago, it may well have removed more than just a camp full of leftist Colombian guerrillas. The raid may wind up taking out a $70 million U.S. Air Force base as well. On Monday, Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa said he’s “convinced” the [...]

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The Pentagon is going to resuscitate its Fourth Fleet, with the mission of patrolling Latin American and Caribbean waters.
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The plan to install a military base in Paraguay, close to Bolivian gas fields, was denounced by Brazil and Argentina. Ecuador has made it known that the American military base installed in Manta until 2009 will not [...]

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A spectacular find may prove what many have long suspected. E-mails and other files found on a FARC laptop in the jungles of Ecuador show that Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez may have close relations with the terror group. By Jens Glüsing more…

Photo Gallery: Colombia’s Struggle against FARC
Sarkozy to the Rescue: France Announces Mission to Broker [...]

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The real news behind South America’s latest border fracas is Colombia’s looming victory in its own narcotics-powered civil war.
This is a victory Colombia’s chief international antagonist, Venezuelan caudillo Hugo Chavez, fears — for several calculating reasons.
Let’s start with Colombia’s slow and grueling democratic accomplishment. On Feb. 5, hundreds of thousands of Colombian citizens [...]

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The governments of Ecuador and Venezuela have sent troops to their borders with Colombia. It’s an angry response to a Colombian attack on FARC rebels in Ecuador on Saturday. Is war about to break out in South America? By Jens Glüsing in Rio de Janeiro more…

The World From Berlin: ‘Colombia Is Risking a Regional Escalation’
The [...]

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And this shocker: Colombia says some documents suggest the rebels have bought and sold uranium.
“When they mention negotiations for 50 kilos of uranium this means that the FARC are taking big steps in the world of terrorism to become a global aggressor. We’re not talking of domestic guerrilla but transnational terrorism,” Gen. Oscar Naranjo said [...]

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Venezuela and Ecuador have ordered troops to their borders with Colombia, raising concerns of a broader conflict after Colombia killed a top rebel leader on Ecuadorean soil.
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on Sunday promised Venezuela would respond militarily if Colombia violates its border, where he ordered tanks as well as thousands of troops. He also ordered [...]

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Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa has offered the Chinese government an airbase currently serving as one of the last U.S. military outposts in South America.
Correa said access to the air base is part of a plan for Manta to become a “doorway” for China’s entry to Latin America.
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Quito, Ecuador (AHN) - Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa will not renew its contract with the United States when the agreement for American use of the Manta airport base expires on 2009. But Correa offered the air base’s concession to China during his state visit to the Asian country.
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More than 60 years ago, Dr. F.A. Hayek brilliantly described the final destination of all people living under socialism: serfdom in a cruel totalitarian state. Venezuela is heading in that direction under the leadership of Fidel Castro’s star pupil, Dictator-President Hugo Chávez. On Sunday, September 30, voters in Ecuador will decide whether to authorize their [...]

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