Hugo Chavez Says Venezuela to Sever Ties With Columbia

Hugo Chavez says Venezuela to sever ties with Colombia
BBC News
July 22, 2010
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Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has said his country will sever diplomatic ties with Colombia over claims he harbours militants.

"We have no other choice but to totally break our relations with our brother nation of Colombia," he said on TV.

Bogota says it has evidence Venezuela provides a haven for guerrillas - a charge Caracas denies.

Mr Chavez said the US was using Colombia to undermine his country's regional integration efforts.

A US official was quoted by AFP news agency as saying Venezuela breaking ties with Colombia was not a "proper way" to raise concerns.

Colombia earlier recalled its ambassador and formally complained to the Organization of American States (OAS).

It submitted photos and maps which, it said, were proof that some 1,500 Colombian rebels were sheltering at numerous camps inside Venezuela.

The issue over whether Venezuela has rebels on its territory has dogged ties between the two South American nations for the past eight years.

The latest exchange plunges bilateral relations to a new low and leaves Juan Manuel Santos who takes over as Colombia's president from Alvaro Uribe in two weeks with a very difficult situation to handle, says the BBC's Jeremy McDermott in Bogota.

'Maximum alert'

The Venezuelan president made his announcement while standing next to the Argentina football coach, Diego Maradona, who was visiting Caracas.

Mr Chavez said that he was acting "out of dignity".

"I have ordered maximum alert on our border, maximum vigilance on our border which we do take care of," he was quoted by the Reuters news agency as saying.

Earlier on Thursday, in a lengthy and impassioned speech in Washington, the Colombian ambassador to the OAS, Luis Alfonso Hoyos, showed maps, photos and videos which he said proved that Marxist rebels had 39 camps in Venezuela and that top guerrilla commanders were resident there.

"Facts over recent weeks show that real risks are materialising due to the consolidated, active and growing presence of these terrorist groups in Venezuela," he said.

Colombia demanded that Venezuela fulfil its international obligations to fight terrorism and that it allow an international commission to visit suspect sites.

The Venezuelan ambassador to the OAS, Roy Chaderton, ridiculed the Colombian evidence, saying that the photos and videos could have been taken anywhere and that if visits were to be organised, why not allow an international commission to see the US military bases on Colombian soil.

Mr Chaderton said the Colombian accusations were a lie.

Chavez is insane. I listen to what he says and the words he choses to distill his real agenda, but otherwise I don't believe a word that man let's fly from his mouth.

I have a friend who fled Venezuela a few years back. She and her husband are sick with themselves for helping elect this man to power, as they felt duped by what he said. Not soon after, they found themselves in the streets rebelling, being shot at, and having people die at their feet.