Laura Carlsen: From Bombs to Markets: The Andean Crisis and the Geopolitics of Trade

Day Three: Ecuador had broken off diplomatic ties with Colombia, Venezuela had expelled the Colombian ambassador, and Colombian General Oscar Naranjo was saying that computers recovered at the camp revealed Venezuelan funding of the guerrilla group.

Day Five: the Organization of American States convened a commission to investigate the incursion, reiterating its support of national sovereignty and noting that the attack had "triggered a serious crisis between [Ecuador and Colombia] that led to "grave tensions in the region."

And then, on Day Seven, everybody made up and went home.

Even for a continent famed for volatile political relations, the events of the Andean crisis passed by with dizzying speed and dangerous passions. Accusations tossed back and forth went way beyond the exchange of insults common in the past, and revealed deep fissures and mistrust among nations in the hemisphere.

The immediate crisis has been averted. But the geopolitical divisions in the region threaten to lead to more conflicts in the near future.