Diplomatic Crisis
Between Colombia,
Venezuela Deepens as
Latter Recalls
Ambassador
CARACAS - The diplomatic
crisis between Colombia
and Venezuela deepened
Tuesday as Venezuela
recalled its ambassador
to its Latin American
neighbor.
The crisis erupted last
Wednesday when Colombian
President Alvaro Uribe
barred his Venezuelan
counterpart Hugo Chavez
from mediating in
hostage negotiations
with Colombia's largest
guerrilla group, the
Revolutionary Armed
Forces of Colombia (FARC).
The Uribe government
said it was angry at
Chavez for speaking
directly to Colombian
generals about the
negotiations, and
claimed he "was seeking
a rebel government in
Bogota."
In a Sunday television
show Chavez said he was
putting relations with
Colombia on ice, and
recalled the ambassador
to Colombia back to
Caracas Tuesday.
Colombia responded by
saying that it is
waiting for a clear
definition of "on ice"
and called for the
international community
to ignore Chavez's
statements, accusing him
of trying to set the
continent aflame by
attacking other nations.
The two leaders have
ever since exchanged
increasingly sharp words
over the issue. Chavez
accused Uribe of looking
for excuses to end the
peace process and said
Colombia "deserves a
better president," while
Uribe claimed that
Chavez is pushing an
"expansionist project"
across Latin America and
seems to want Colombia
to fall "victim to a
terrorist FARC
government."
Since August, Chavez has
been seeking to strike a
humanitarian accord
between the Colombian
government and the rebel
group to free hostages
held by rebels,
including three U.S.
defense contractors and
French-Colombian
politician Ingrid
Betancourt.
Colombian Foreign
Minister Fernando Araujo
said Tuesday that
Colombia will not recall
its ambassador from
neighboring Venezuela
for consultations,
despite Venezuela doing
that to its Colombian
representative.
"We are clear about what
the Colombian
government's interests
are and the real enemy
is FARC, which takes
advantage of these types
of spaces to create new
ways of fighting. We
will continue monitoring
the situation in order
to take the appropriate
decisions," said Araujo.
"The enemy of the
Colombian people is FARC,"
he added.
The rebel group also
issued their first
statement on recent
events Tuesday, saying
that Chavez's
participation in the
fledgling talks had been
"the only hope" for a
deal.
The rebel leader who had
traveled to Caracas to
meet with the Venezuelan
president earlier this
month thanked Chavez for
trying to stimulate
talks.
Since taking office in
2002, Uribe's government
has not met with the
rebels. Some FARC
hostages have been held
for more than 10 years.
Venezuela is home to
around 600,000
Colombians, many of whom
are refugees from the
nation's 40-year-old
internal conflict.
Venezuela has legalized
the bulk of these
refugees, giving them
access to healthcare and
education.
Venezuela and Colombia
have 2,200 kilometers of
shared border and 6
billion U.S. dollars of
trade each year, making
them among Latin
America's most active
trade partners.
Around three years ago
the presidents of the
two countries argued
about the capture of
FARC "foreign minister"
Rodrigo Grandain
Venezuelan territory.
Colombia's High
Commissioner for Peace
Luis Carlos Restrepo has
proposed that Granda be
the new facilitator for
the humanitarian accord.
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