Chavez Calls On Colombia
To Keep Regional Peace
Venezuelan President
Hugo Chavez Monday
called on his Colombian
counterpart Alvaro Uribe
to keep the peace in the
region and not to be
guided by what he
described as bellicose
voices from the United
States.
"I am obliged to make
these comments because
it has cost us much.
Uribe, protect yourself
from the spokesmen of
the imperial war," he
said.
Chavez said he was
worried about Colombian
Defense Minister Juan
Manuel Santos' comments
on Colombia's March 1
raid on Ecuadorian
territory.
Earlier in the day,
Manuel Santos said that
bases run by the
Revolutionary Armed
Forces of Colombia (FARC)
are a "legitimate
military objective."
On March 1, Colombian
troops entered
Ecuadorian territory to
attack a FARC camp and
killed over 20
guerillas, including a
top rebel leader.
As a result, Ecuador
broke off diplomatic
ties with Colombia and
Venezuela, Colombia's
northern neighbor,
expelled Colombian
diplomats in an
expression of solidarity
with Ecuador.
Both of the two
countries deployed
troops at their borders
with Colombia at the
height of the crisis.
On March 7, Ecuador,
Venezuela and Colombia
agreed to declare the
border crisis over at
the 20th Rio Group
Summit in the Dominican
Republic.
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