Queens Enclave Roiled by News From S. America

In Queens, just as in South America, Ecuadorians, Venezuelans, and Colombians have settled as close neighbors who tend to enjoy each other's company as much as each other's arepas.

Now a conflict back home has some worried that those bonds could be strained, as neighborhoods such as Corona and Jackson Heights are gripped by news of military maneuvering along the shared borders of the three countries.

Yesterday, televisions tuned to Spanish-language news turned the heads of customers filing in and out of the bakeries and rotisserie chicken joints lining 37th Avenue. Regular updates on the conflict, accompanied by photos of arms caches and marching troops, fed chatter in the South American enclave about whether President Uribe of Colombia had gone too far in sending forces to battle rebel forces in Ecuador, or whether President Chavez of Venezuela and President Correa of Ecuador had overreacted by sending troops to their borders with Colombia.

At Pollos a la Brasa Mario, a restaurant painted in the bright yellow and red of the nearly identical Colombian and Ecuadorian flags, waiters paused on trips to the kitchen to look up at the news on a large flat-screen television.

"Everyone's talking about it," the restaurant's manager, Carlos Lopez, 47, of Cali, said. "We support Uribe — all the Colombians are united."

Not all of his customers were united, however. As she waited for an order of roasted chicken, Gina Jimenez, 45, of Ecuador, scolded the Colombian leader.

"Uribe has to ask permission to cross the border of Ecuador. He can't just do that," she said.

A cashier who rang her up, Oscar Hernandez, 35, of Medellin, shrugged.

"I respect her opinion. Everyone defends their country," Mr. Hernandez, who supports Mr. Uribe's prerogative to cross into Ecuador, said. "If there's a war, we'll all come together to defend ourselves."

While a war appears unlikely, the dispute marks a dramatic escalation in hostilities between the countries over the activities of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC.

Despite the intense rhetoric zinging among the three leaders, Queens residents say the conversations about the conflict here have been civil. A Venezuelan anti-Chavez activist, Eglys Broslat, said the topic had merely livened up a dinner party she hosted Sunday for a group of her Ecuadorian friends.

Still, just in case, Colombian community leaders are gathering tomorrow evening to discuss how to avert problems that could arise in Queens if the conflict escalates further.

"We have lived together for many, many years," Orlando Tobon, who is often dubbed the mayor of Little Colombia in Queens, said. "We have to work together. We don't want to fight."