Uribe to denounce Chavez in court in Andes crisis

BOGOTA (Reuters) - Colombian President Alvaro Uribe onTuesday accused Venezuela's Hugo Chavez of backing genocide andsaid he would denounce him in international court as adiplomatic and military crisis gripped the oil-rich Andeanregion.

"Colombia proposes to denounce Hugo Chavez, President ofVenezuela, in the International Criminal Court for sponsoringand financing genocide," Uribe said, after Venezuela andEcuador cut diplomatic ties and ordered troops to the border.

The crisis erupted after a raid by Colombia troops intoEcuador on Saturday that killed a top commander of theRevolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, FARC, which is seen asa terrorist group by Uribe and his backer, the United States.

Uribe, who has accused Chavez and his ally EcuadoreanPresident Rafael Correa of supporting the FARC, told reporters:"We are not warmongers, but we are not weak. We cannot allowterrorists who seek refuge in other countries to spill theblood of our countrymen."

The rebel group said on Tuesday the killing of Raul Reyes,a major blow to the rebels, was a serious setback to efforts byFrance, Venezuela and Ecuador to free hostages held by FARC foryears in jungle camps.

France said Reyes had been its main negotiating partner asit tried to free Ingrid Betancourt, a former Colombianpresidential candidate who also holds French nationality.

Venezuela began restricting Colombian commercial traffic onpoints along its frontier, witnesses and businesses inVenezuela said, threatening to disrupt the $6 billion-a-yearbilateral trade between the two countries,

The crisis reflected a sharp political divide in SouthAmerica, where Uribe, who has strong U.S. financial andmilitary backing, is opposed by leftists led by Chavez whofiercely reject what they brand U.S. "imperialism".

Latin American countries scrambled to defuse the crisis,which threatened regional stability. Chile's foreign ministersaid countries would take a proposal on Tuesday to theOrganization of American States, or OAS, the region's topdiplomatic body, to try to cool the escalating situation.

Ecuador's Correa arrived in Peru to start a five-nationtour of the region -- including to Venezuela -- to lobby forsupport after the Colombian raid, which he called apremeditated violation of sovereignty.

"We are going to try to resolve this matter throughdiplomatic and peaceful means," he said shortly after arrivingin Lima. "Uribe doesn't want peace, he wants war."

MILITARY BRINKMANSHIP

Despite the three leaders' brinkmanship and the risk ofmilitary missteps, political analysts said a conflict wasunlikely on borders that stretch from parched desert throughAndean mountains and jungles to the Pacific Ocean.

Chavez, who says socialist revolution will counter U.S.influence, may fire up his supporters by challenging Uribe buthe can ill afford to lose food imports from Colombia as hecombats shortages in his OPEC nation, the analysts said.

In Washington, U.S. State Department spokesman Tom Caseyplayed down the chances of it erupting into a wider conflict.

"This is a serious incident between two important countriesin the region but it is not one that we think is going to causeany long-term problems," Casey said, stressing the U.S. desirethat Colombia and Ecuador address the matter directly.

Latin American governments generally lined up to condemnUribe for sending troops and warplanes over the border.

Colombia has pressed its campaign for international supportby playing up the threat from the FARC, Latin America's oldestleft-wing insurgency, which U.S. and European officials label acocaine-trafficking terrorist organization.

In Geneva, Vice President Francisco Santos told a U.N.conference that materials found on the slain rebel's computersshowed the group planned to make a "dirty bomb."

Colombia also said the dead rebel's computers revealedChavez had offered $300 million (151 million pounds)in supportto the FARC and that a top Correa representative had contactswith the rebels.

Venezuelan officials dismissed the accusations as a crudesmear on Chavez and urged the international community to focuson Colombia's "aggression."

Chavez and Correa expelled Colombia's diplomats and saidthey were ordering thousands of troops to their borders withColombia.

Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega, an ex-guerrilla andally of Venezuela and Ecuador, said Uribe was a threat to LatinAmerica and Brazil, the region's diplomatic heavyweight,Brazil, demanded Uribe apologize to Correa.

Colombia's four-decade guerrilla conflict has eased underUribe, who is popular at home for his campaign against the

FARC.

(Additional reporting by Saul Hudson and Brian Ellsworth inCaracas and Dana Ford in Lima; Editing by David Storey)