In the end, they embraced each other, just like many boxers do moments after bloodying each other's faces. But I can't think of a boxing match that was more exciting than the face-to-face, blow-by-blow encounter between several Latin American presidents at the Rio Group summit in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, last week.

Forget the Spanish soap operas! This was much more dramatic.

On one side, you had Colombian President Alvaro Uribe, a U.S. ally, waving papers that he said revealed that Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa has close ties with leftist, drug-trafficking terrorists in Colombia.

On the other side, Correa vehemently charged that Colombia violated Ecuador's sovereignty when Colombian soldiers raided a rebel camp of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and killed 24 rebels inside Ecuador two weeks ago.

The leaders of two countries at the brink of war, surrounded by the presidents of most of the Latin American nations, were throwing verbal punches at each other. And they were landing some good ones. Correa implied that Uribe is a liar. Uribe implied that Correa is a communist.

"How difficult it is to believe one who …" Correa said as Uribe interrupted.

"Don't apply to me the cynicism of those who feel nostalgia for communism," Uribe told Correa. Uribe charged that Correa's presidential campaign was backed by the Colombian guerrillas.

"Don't come (to us) with fallacies; don't come with cynicism," Correa told Uribe later. "It's not your neighbors who are responsible for your problems; it's you. It's Colombia, and we are the victims, not the victimizers. … Your insolence is doing more harm to the Ecuadorian people than your murderous bombs."

Escalation seemed like the only possible outcome, especially because also sitting across from Uribe were other members of the Latin American axis of evil: Nicaragua's Daniel Ortega, Bolivia's Evo Morales and Venezuela's Hugo Chavez. And they all were throwing jabs at Uribe.

After all, the documents Uribe was quoting were obtained from the computer of a rebel leader killed by Colombian troops during the raid into Ecuador, and they also implicated Chavez. Prior to the Santo Domingo summit, the Colombian government already had charged that, according to the documents, Chavez recently gave $300 million to the Colombian rebels. Uribe already had threatened to take Chavez to the International Criminal Court and charge him with "sponsoring genocide." Ecuador, Venezuela and Nicaragua already had broken diplomatic relations with Colombia. Chavez and Correa already had sent troops to the Venezuelan and Ecuadorian borders with Colombia.

And then, there they were, face to face, with several other Latin American presidents trying to play the role of referees.

And no one but Uribe came to the defense of Colombia — not even other democracies that are supposed to be friends with Colombia and the United States. Even Argentina's new "presidenta," Cristina Kirchner, poorly trying to act presidential while pandering to the leftists in the summit, tried to lecture Uribe on Colombia's need to follow the rule of law.

But Uribe, the only true U.S. ally left in South America, responded to each of their snipes, lies and insults with remarkable patience and presidential posture. He told Chavez that, unlike Venezuela, Colombia doesn't intervene in the politics of neighboring countries. He lectured Ortega on "the difference between the insurgencies that combat dictatorships and armed groups, financed by drug-trafficking, that obstruct democracy. That's why we call (the FARC) a terrorist movement."

Uribe said the FARC made a transition long ago from a movement driven by ideology to one that is motivated by money and mercenary greed. "We would have to look at the FARC's cocaine business," he said. Uribe noted that the Colombian rebels never really wanted peace. "They say they want to be in politics, but they keep shooting," Uribe said.

Although Ortega had suggested the creation of a peace commission to negotiate between the FARC and the Colombian government, Uribe said many peace agreements have been tried already and always have been broken by the rebels. But he said Colombians are pained when they hear Ortega paying tribute to FARC leader Manuel Marulanda. "You would help us make peace much more easily if you would break that brotherhood you claim you have with him," Uribe told Ortega. "It's just that he has given us too many deaths and too many kidnappings."

Like the true leader that he is, Uribe took responsibility and apologized for the Colombian raid into Ecuador. But he also argued that, just like the territorial sovereignty of Ecuador needs to be respected, so does the sovereignty of the Colombian people — implying that foreign governments should not be supporting or giving safe harbor to terrorists in Colombia. He told Kirchner that, because she is "such a distinguished jurist," she should help Colombia by making sure international law recognizes that neither territorial sovereignty nor the security of a people can be violated.

Answering charges by Latin American leftists that Uribe is a puppet of American imperialism, Uribe responded: "Take it out of your heads that this is an imperialist project," he said at the summit. "This is an autonomous project of the Colombian people, born out of rebellion against 40 years of terrorist oppression."

In the end, it was Chavez, apparently fearful of the evidence Uribe was taking to the International Criminal Court, who called for calm. Correa said he was willing to accept Uribe's apology, and the president of Colombia — articulate, principled, backed by even the opposition in his country — walked out with his head held high.

The United States may not have many good amigos left in Latin America, but we have one in Colombia we can be proud of.

To find out more about Miguel Perez and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.

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