Colombia and Venezuela restore ties

Chavez and Santos agreed to restore diplomatic ties
between their two countries [AFP]


Source: Al Jazeera
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/americas/2010/08/201081023312716697.html


The presidents of Colombia and Venezuela have agreed to restore diplomatic ties after a dispute over allegations that Caracas shelters Colombian leftist rebels.

Presidents Juan Manuel Santos of Colombia and Hugo Chaves of Venezuela agreed to "relaunch bilateral relations and re-establish diplomatic ties between the two countries based on transparent and direct dialogue," a joint statement issued after Tuesday's meeting said.

The two leaders expressed optimism that their first meeting would produce positive results.

Santos said he also received assurances from Chavez that the Venezuelan leader would not allow guerrilla groups to set up camp inside his borders.

Chavez severed diplomatic relations with Colombia on July 22 after the government of Alvaro Uribe, Santos' predecessor, publicly presented photos, videos and maps of what it said were camps inside Venezuela that belonged to the Revolutionary Forces of Colombia (Farc) rebel group.

Chavez accused Uribe of lying and trying to stir up a conflict in his final days in office.

Al Jazeera's Teresa Bo, reporting from Santa Marta said that the topic Venezuelan support for the Farc was not discussed.

"It is a very sensitive topic at this point in time, and this meeting was mainly a common pledge to restore diplomatic relation between the countries."

Trade between the neighbouring countries had already fallen dramatically in the past year as relations deteriorated.

Tense relations

Relations between Colombia and Venezuela already suffered in July 2009, when Chavez froze ties after Bogota agreed to give the United States access to seven military bases to fight cocaine production and trafficking.

Colombian foreign minister Maria Angela Holguin said the leaders were likely to discuss the bases, but that the sensitive issue of the alleged presence of the Farc leadership on Venezuelan soil was unlikely to arise yet.

More immediate concerns of the return of ambassadors and the reopening pf borders to bilateral trade were expected to be the main focus.

Trade between the South American neighbours - $6bn in 2008 - fell precipitously during the dispute, hurting economies on both sides of their 2,000km border.

UNASUR to discuss Caracas, Bogota

Venezuelan Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro (R) at the UNASUR
meeting, which was called to discuss the political crisis between
Colombia and Venezuela, Thursday July 29, 2010



Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=136734§ionid=351020706


South American foreign ministers gather in Ecuador to discuss broken ties between Venezuela and Colombia and find a peaceful solution to the escalating diplomatic row.

The meeting of the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) is the first encounter between the two governments since Venezuela severed relations with Colombia last week.

The crisis began after Bogota accused Caracas of serving as a rear base for Colombian rebels.

The left-wing rebel groups have been fighting the Colombian authorities since the 1960s.

Venezuelan Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro has expressed hope that the issue will be resolved peacefully.

However, Colombia's Foreign Minister Jaime Bermudez has expressed doubts over reaching a solution at the UNASUR meeting.

Maduro and Bermudez also traded accusations at the start of the meeting.

Upon arrival in Quito, the Venezuelan foreign minister said that his country had asked the south American states to respond to the "grave threats and grave attacks" posed by Colombia, Reuters reported.

Bermudez, on the other hand, once again accused Caracas of sheltering rebel groups including the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and National Liberation Army (ELN).

Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has offered to mediate between the two sides.

Chavez: US uses earthquake to occupy Haiti

Source: PressTV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=116425§ionid=351020706


Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has accused the United States of taking advantage of the deadly earthquake in Haiti to occupy the Caribbean country.

Chavez on Sunday scoffed Washington's move to send thousands of American soldiers to Haiti, describing them as "Marines armed as if they were going to war."

"There is not a shortage of guns there, my God. Doctors, medicine, fuel, field hospitals, that's what the United States should send," Chavez said on his weekly television show.

"They are occupying Haiti undercover," he warned.

The Pentagon says it has deployed more than 10,000 soldiers in Haiti to help victims of Tuesday's earthquake. This comes as US paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne Division took control of the main airport in the capital Port-au-Prince on Friday.

"On top of that, you don't see them in the streets. Are they picking up bodies? ... Are they looking for the injured? You don't see them. I haven't seen them. Where are they?" Chavez went on to ask.

Chavez's remarks echo those earlier made by Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega who on Saturday expressed "deep concern" over the US deployment of troops in Haiti.

The US has been accused of interfering in Haitian internal affairs in the past. The US military played a role in the departure of the former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide before his second term was over in early 2004. Aristide has described his departure as a kidnapping.

Despite the sharp criticism, Chavez said he did not mean to diminish the humanitarian effort made by the United States and was only questioning the need for so many troops.

The Venezuelan president promised his nation would send as much gasoline as needed for transport and producing electricity in Haiti.

Caracas has sent several planes with doctors, aid and some soldiers to the island state and a Russia-Venezuela mission is due to leave for the stricken country on Monday.

Last week's 7.0 magnitude earthquake in Haiti is estimated to have left some 200,000 people killed and more than 1.5 million others homeless, with at least 70,000 bodies collected from the rubbles so far.