Colombia takes more heat from Latin America left

CARACAS, March 6 (Reuters) - Latin America's leftist leaders heaped more criticism on Colombia, leaving it increasingly isolated on Thursday in a crisis that has threatened political stability in the Andes.

Colombia, the United States' closest ally in South America, set off a major diplomatic crisis on Saturday when its army crossed into Ecuador to kill Colombian Marxist guerrillas just across the border.

OPEC oil exporters and leftist allies Venezuela and Ecuador reacted by cutting off diplomatic relations, moving troops to their borders with Colombia and lambasting Colombian President Alvaro Uribe, who receives billions of dollars in military aid from the United States.

Colombian Vice-President Francisco Santos said he saw no risk of war with Venezuela or Ecuador despite military mobilisation in the dispute.

"I don't think there is a risk of war. The Colombian government has been very clear it won't use force," Santos told Reuters in an interview during a visit to Brussels for talks with EU officials. "It won't fall into the game of provocation."

Argentine President Cristina Fernandez was in Caracas on Thursday to meet with anti-U.S. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. A day earlier, Chavez met with Ecuador's president, Rafael Correa, in Caracas. Correa later traveled to Panama to continue his anti-Colombia lobbying tour.

Chavez threatened on Wednesday possible government takeovers of Colombian companies in Venezuela, and said Venezuela could sell off investments it has made in Colombia.

He said Venezuelan mobilization of military hardware and troops was to defend itself against possible attacks from Colombia and the United States.

"Our policy is peace, but we have to take preventive measures to prevent war," Chavez said after meeting with Correa.

PIPELINE BOMBING

U.S. President George W. Bush has supported Colombia and the White House has tried to shift the focus on to four decades of killings and kidnappings by the rebel Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC.

But even centrist and conservative leaders in Peru and Mexico joined the criticism of Colombia.

The Organization of American States, the Western Hemisphere's top diplomatic body, said Colombia had violated international law, but stopped short of the stronger condemnation Correa demanded.

Colombia says it nabbed guerrilla computers in Ecuador containing proof that Ecuador and Venezuela were aiding the FARC, Latin America's oldest insurgency group.

Chavez is openly sympathetic to the FARC but he and Correa denied the accusations and repeatedly called Uribe a liar.

The attack in Ecuador, which killed a top FARC leader and more than 20 other rebels, threw cold water on negotiations by France, Venezuela and Ecuador to free dozens of hostages held by the guerrilla army for years.

While many Colombians want Uribe to negotiate with the guerrillas to release hostages, he is popular for military victories against the FARC.

Santos told Reuters his government was prepared to take further measures to solve the situation on condition that the FARC was not allowed to set up camps close to Colombia's borders.

"The Colombian government is ready to do whatever is needed to sort out the situation but on one fundamental, clear and concrete condition -- that there should be no support nor camps on the other sides of the borders," he said.

FARC rebels bombed an oil pipeline in southwest Colombia on Wednesday, a possible reprisal for Saturday's attack.

Such pipeline bombings are fairly common in Colombia, but this was the first one since the current crisis began. (Additional reporting by William Schomberg in Brussels; editing by Mohammad Zargham and Keith Weir)