Chavez cuts ties with Colombia
Source: Agencies |
July 24, 2010, Saturday
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Print Edition
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VENEZUELAN President Hugo Chavez has broken diplomatic relations with neighboring Colombia, accusing the country of fabricating reports that Colombian rebels find safe haven inside Venezuela.
Souring already poor relations even more, Chavez said on Thursday that he was forced to sever ties because Colombian officials insist he has failed to move against leftist rebels who allegedly have taken shelter on Venezuelan territory.
At a meeting of the Organization of American States in Washington, Colombian Ambassador Luis Alfonso Hoyos presented photos, videos, witness testimony and maps of what he said were rebel camps inside Venezuela and challenged Venezuelan officials to let independent observers visit them.
Neither Chavez nor his OAS ambassador directly responded to the Colombian's repeated demand that Venezuela let people visit the alleged camps run by groups that the US and European governments label terrorist organizations.
But the Venezuelan president suggested his conservative Colombian counterpart, outgoing President Alvaro Uribe, could be attempting to provoke a war.
Chavez insisted Venezuela does everything possible to prevent members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia and the smaller National Liberation Army from crossing into Venezuelan territory.
In Washington, Hoyos said that roughly 1,500 rebels are hiding out in Venezuela and he displayed numerous aerial photographs of what he identified as rebel camps inside Venezuela.
Venezuelan Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro announced that Chavez's government had closed its embassy in Bogota and demanded that Colombia's ambassador in Caracas leave the country within 72 hours.
Souring already poor relations even more, Chavez said on Thursday that he was forced to sever ties because Colombian officials insist he has failed to move against leftist rebels who allegedly have taken shelter on Venezuelan territory.
At a meeting of the Organization of American States in Washington, Colombian Ambassador Luis Alfonso Hoyos presented photos, videos, witness testimony and maps of what he said were rebel camps inside Venezuela and challenged Venezuelan officials to let independent observers visit them.
Neither Chavez nor his OAS ambassador directly responded to the Colombian's repeated demand that Venezuela let people visit the alleged camps run by groups that the US and European governments label terrorist organizations.
But the Venezuelan president suggested his conservative Colombian counterpart, outgoing President Alvaro Uribe, could be attempting to provoke a war.
Chavez insisted Venezuela does everything possible to prevent members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia and the smaller National Liberation Army from crossing into Venezuelan territory.
In Washington, Hoyos said that roughly 1,500 rebels are hiding out in Venezuela and he displayed numerous aerial photographs of what he identified as rebel camps inside Venezuela.
Venezuelan Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro announced that Chavez's government had closed its embassy in Bogota and demanded that Colombia's ambassador in Caracas leave the country within 72 hours.
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