Venezuela
Accuses Colombia Of Risking
Regional Peace
Caracas - The Venezuelan
government on Thursday accused Colombia of
putting South America's peace and stability
at risk by allowing the United States to
establish military bases in its territory.
The accusation may further raise tensions
between the two countries, after Colombia
alleged earlier this week that Caracas had
supplied weapons to Colombian rebel group
the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).
"Venezuela expresses its indignation due to
the irresponsibility of the Colombian
government of destroying the efforts made to
build a bi-national tie of mutual benefit
for both people, putting at risk the peace
and stability of the region," the Venezuelan
foreign ministry said in a statement.
The ministry said Colombia sought to justify
the establishment of five U.S. military
bases in its territory by making false
accusations of weapon supply from Caracas to
the Colombian guerilla.
It said Colombia demanded Venezuela to
explain the origin of the weapons, without
explaining how the guerilla in its country
was armed.
"Why does not (Colombia) demand the U.S. or
Israel to explain how thousands of weapons
made in those countries go to the hands of
the guerilla inside Colombia?" the ministry
asked.
It said Colombia had become "a continue
danger for the entire region," and called on
its neighbor to drop the "warmonger" policy.
Sources from the Colombian foreign ministry
told Xinhua earlier that the cooperation
with the United States on military bases was
still under negotiation. There will not be
new establishment of bases, but only joint
use of existing ones aimed at strengthening
anti-drug operations in the region, the
source said.
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez Tuesday
announced his government's decision to sever
diplomatic and commercial ties with
Colombia.
He ordered the withdrawal of all diplomatic
staff in Colombia and added that economic
and diplomatic ties with Colombia were
frozen.
Chavez said the measure was an answer to the
"irresponsible declarations" made by the
Colombian government accusing Venezuela of
selling weapons to the FARC.
The Venezuelan leader also threatened to
halt all trade agreements with the Colombian
government "if there's one more accusation
against Venezuela."
Bogota said a batch of Swedish-made weapons
bought by Venezuela during the 1980s had
ended up in the hands of the FARC, which has
been fighting the Colombian government for
more than four decades.
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