Venezuela, Colombia Hope
To Reestablish "Best"
Ties
The Venezuelan and
Colombian governments
expressed their
willingness to
reestablish "best"
relations in a joint
communique issued
Thursday.
The communique said the
two governments hope
"best" bilateral ties
will be reestablished,
and leaders of the two
countries can rebuild
mutual trust.
The communique was
released after
Venezuelan President
Hugo Chavez and his
Colombian counterpart
Alvaro Uribe Thursday
afternoon held telephone
talks on bilateral
relations, which were
soured over a recent
critical border crisis.
The communique said the
two sides should
strengthen cooperation
and trust so that
Colombia and Venezuela
would not fall victim to
any armed groups, adding
the two leaders would
like to have a meeting
at a proper time.
Ecuador broke off
diplomatic ties with
Colombia after Colombian
troops entered
Ecuadorian territory on
March 1 to attack a camp
of the Revolutionary
Armed Forces of Colombia
(FARC) and killed over
20 guerillas, including
a top rebel leader.
Ecuador called the raid
a violation of its
territorial sovereignty.
Venezuela, Colombia's
northern neighbor,
expelled Colombian
diplomats, and Nicaragua
severed diplomatic ties
with Colombia in an
expression of solidarity
with Ecuador. Both
Ecuador and Venezuela
had also deployed troops
at their respective
borders with Colombia at
the height of the
crisis.
On March 7, Ecuador,
Venezuela, Nicaragua and
Colombia agreed to
declare the border
crisis over at the 20th
Rio Group Summit held in
the Dominican Republic.
On March 9, Venezuelan
Foreign Ministry said
the country decided to
restore diplomatic
relations with Colombia.
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