South American Crisis Ends With Handshakes

The threat of war involving Colombia, Ecuador, and Venezuela was diffused today with a bevy of handshakes televised all over Latin America, Reuters reports. Colombian President Alvaro Uribe and his opposite number, Rafael Correa of Ecuador, reached an agreement on combating insurgents in the future; the Colombian military's killing of FARC rebels in Ecuador last weekend sparked the crisis.

The summit in the Dominican Republic—involving leaders from the three countries and from nations across Central and South America—was at times choppy, Reuters reports. Though Uribe and Correa clashed early over accusations of Ecuadorian support for FARC, their eventual détente was hailed by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who, along with Ecuador, had massed troops at the Colombian border. (More FARC stories.)