Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on Sunday ruled out the possibility of a swift normalization of ties with neighboring Colombia, snubbing an offer of goodwill from his Colombian counterpart Alvaro Uribe.
"He says he wants to fix the relationship when he is wounding well-intentioned brothers and neighbors, supporting a U.S policy to divide us," Chavez said during his weekly "Alo Presidente" TV program.
On Friday, Uribe said at a meeting of entrepreneurs that his country hoped to reconcile with neighbors Venezuela and Ecuador after their relationship has been snagged repeatedly by diplomatic frictions.
Chavez froze diplomatic ties with Colombia on July 28, in response to Colombia's talks with the U.S. to allow American troops to use Colombian military bases, and to Colombia's accusations that Caracas is helping Colombian guerrillas to get weapons.
"They are defaming and harassing us," Chavez said. The U.S. bases are a threat to the region, and the U.S. is seeking access to South American energy, water and food resources, he said.
Venezuela shares a 2,220-kilometer border with Colombia and there is a natural gas pipeline running between the two countries.
Chavez also reiterated Venezuela's goal of deepening
relations with fellow South American nations, in a bid to counteract U.S.
influence in the region. He again urged Washington to pull out its military
bases from Latin America and stop interfering in other nations' internal
affairs. (Xinhua)
