Venezuela sends troops to Colombian border

CARACAS, Venezuela, March 2 (UPI) -- Venezuela's president ordered thousands of troops and tanks to the nation's border with Colombia after a Colombian leftist rebel was killed, it was reported.

In his weekly radio show Sunday, Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez said the killing of rebel leader Raul Reyes was a cowardly act on the part of the Colombian government, Globovision reported. Chavez also condemned Bogota for entering into Ecuadorean territory to kill Reyes and more than a dozen other members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC.

Chavez, in recent weeks, has negotiated the release of six hostages being held by FARC, which both Colombia and the United States consider a terrorist organization.

FARC has been fighting Colombian forces for decades.

Colombian rebel groups have been accused of crossing the dense jungle border between Colombia and Venezuela while outrunning government forces and receiving aid from Chavez, an allegation he denies.