Colombia, Venezuela settle
dispute
Both Colombia and Venezuela
announced Friday that they have
solved their
nearly-two-month-old dispute
over the arrest of a Colombian
rebel leader, a statement issued
by the president's office said.
"The Colombian government issues
this communique, which has been
agreed with the government of
the sister Republic of
Venezuela," the statement said.
"Based on this agreement, the
incident (between Colombia and
Venezuela) is over," the
statement said.
Meanwhile, Venezuelan Foreign
Minister Ali Rodriguez told the
state-run Bolivarian News Agency
he was pleased to have finalized
the matter, adding that a
similar statement to that of the
Colombian government will be
issued soon.
The foreign minister also said
the two countries believed that
the conditions for settling the
rift were ripe and the
unpleasant matter was past.
With the settlement of the
dispute, Venezuela will restart
its already positive
relationship with Colombia, he
added.
The dispute began seven weeks
ago as Venezuela accused
Colombia of kidnapping in
Caracas Rodrigo Granda, a leader
of Colombia's largest rebel
group -- the Revolutionary Armed
Forces of Colombia (FARC),
arguing that the move is a
violation of its sovereignty.
Colombia admitted that they paid
bounty hunters to capture Granda,
but insisted the arrest took
place in its border city of
Cucuta.
After recalling its ambassador
to Colombia, Venezuela froze its
diplomatic and business ties
with the country pending
Colombia's apologies it
demanded.
Chinese vice president arrives
in Venezuela for official visit
Chinese Vice President Zeng
Qinghong Friday afternoon
arrived in Caracas from Lima on
an official visit as guest of
his Venezuelan counterpart Jose
Vicente Rangel.
Zeng was accorded with a warm
welcoming ceremony at the
airport by his Venezuelan
counterpart.
Zeng said in a written statement
upon arrival that his ongoing
visit is aimed to further
promote friendship, enhance
mutual trust, deepen cooperation
and common development.
During the visit, he said, he
will have an in-depth exchange
of views with President Hugo
Chavez and Vice President Rangel
on bilateral ties and other
issues of shared concern.
"I am convinced my current visit
will achieve fruitful results
and serve to give a new impetus
to the China-Venezuela strategic
partnership of common
development," he said.
Since the establishment of
diplomatic ties in 1974, Zeng
said, the relationship between
the two nations has witnessed
smooth development and
friendship between the two
peoples has been increasingly
deepened.
Especially since the two
established strategic
partnership of common
development in 2001, he said,
bilateral cooperation in the
fields of politics, economy,
trade, science, technology and
education have been continuously
enhanced and scored remarkable
progress.
Not long ago, President Chavez
visited China again and leaders
of the two nations reached
important consensus on
furthering state-to-state ties,
Zeng added.
Venezuela is the third leg of
Zeng's five-nation tour to Latin
America and Caribbean. He had
visited Mexico and Peru, and
will travel to Trinidad and
Tobago and Jamaica after winding
up his visit in Venezuela.
Zeng is also scheduled to attend
the opening ceremony of the
first Ministerial-level Meeting
of the China-Caribbean Economy
and Trade Cooperation Forum 2005
on February 2 in Jamaica.
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Guerrilla leader captured in
Colombia
A leader of the Revolutionary
Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC),
the largest rebel group in the
country, has been captured in
Bogota, authorities said on
Friday.
Gustavo Camacho, also known as
Cristian, is a member of the
Jacobo Arenas mobile column of
the FARC, which operates in the
southwestern provinces of Cauca
and Huila.
Camacho was captured in a joint
operation of the Attorney
General's Office, the Central
Direction of the Judicial Police
andthe Judicial Intelligence
Service.
Last year, Camacho escaped after
his capture along with other
eight guerrilla members, police
said.
The 17,000-strong FARC has been
fighting the government for four
decades and is controlling 40
percent of Colombia's rural
areas.
The rebel group finances itself
with drug-trafficking and
kidnapping activities.
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