Crisis on the Great Colombia.

In the early 1800s, Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador and Panama were one country. This "Republic of Colombia" only lasted about a dozen years and was Simón Bolívar's dream of a unified nation.

Now, this notion seems not only distant but also shocking in two ways.

One, it's hard to believe that with the recent hostilities in the region, they were once unified; and two, surprising as it might seem, it might be just that unification is what is on its way now in Hugo Chávez's mind.

Along with having almost the exact same flag and a very similar "northern South American" Spanish accent, those three nations were historically friendly. They would refer to each other as brothers, had great commercial relations and a good cultural interchange.

But things changed a little bit in the '80s and '90s. The '90s were probably the darkest and bloodiest years of the guerrilla warfare in Colombia. It made many Colombians flee to their brotherly neighborhood countries: Venezuela and Ecuador.
Like in most of the immigrant stories, sometimes the host countries developed hostile feelings toward those seeking refuge. As the power of the guerrilla warfare increased, the violence started to spill toward the neighborhood countries.
Hostile feelings between Venezuelans and Ecuadorians toward Colombians started to rise, because they related all the Colombians to the guerrilla- and drug-related violence.

The big antagonistic problems are more recent, though. Álvaro Uribe Vélez, Colombia's president, has been in power since 2002. He is the lone ranger, conservative, U.S.-educated, pro-free-trade president.

Chávez and Rafael Correa, Ecuador's president, are part of the new left-wing ideology that has been taking over Latin America in the last decades.

This ideological difference has been impacted by the role of the U.S. supporting Colombia's "war on drugs" and the increasing rivalry between President George W. Bush and Chávez.

Lately, Chavez has been talking about the Great Colombia again. He has been arming himself ever since he got in power. Projecting that he wants to take over the whole continent is a little bit too abrupt to say.

Still, the fear is almost always present for some Colombians.