• by Humberto Márquez (caracas)
• Friday, July 23, 2010
• Inter Press Service

The break in diplomatic relations between neighbours Colombia and Venezuela, ordered Thursday by the latter's President Hugo Chávez, bodes an escalation of tensions -- the outcome of which largely will be decided by Colombia's president-elect Juan Manuel Santos.

'This is a fateful day for the people of both countries, who are the losers in the severing of relations, and the first loser is Santos,' Carlos Romero, professor of international studies at the Central University of Venezuela, told IPS.

In his view, 'the bilateral relationship will be marked by a heavy tension, and Santos will have to make an effort and perhaps sacrifice more to find a way to rebuild it. In the meantime the void will be filled with problems of border security, trade, and transit of peoples from one country to the other.'

Fellow international relations professor Adolfo Salgueiro believes the moves that led to the severing of ties were coordinated by Santos and out-going President Álvaro Uribe so that the new president can begin Aug. 7 to elaborate the terms necessary to repair relations.

Chávez announced the break just as a special session of the Permanent Council of the Organisation of American States (OAS) was concluding in Washington. At that meeting, Colombia denounced the presence of leftist guerrilla leaders in hiding in western Venezuela.

According to Bogotá, Venezuela is harbouring commanders of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and of the National Liberation Army (ELN), two groups involved in the country's decades-old internal armed conflict.

Colombia's ambassador to the OAS, Luis Hoyos, showed photographs of alleged camps or refuges of as many as 1,500 FARC combatants in Venezuela.

Chávez's response: 'We have no choice, out of dignity, but to break off all diplomatic relations with our sister Colombia, which makes my heart shed a tear.'

The Venezuelan president made the announcement at the doors of the government palace in Caracas, where he was meeting with Argentine football star Diego Maradona.

Chávez ordered the armed forces to be on alert because 'Uribe is a mafioso capable of anything,' such as 'ordering the creation of a sham camp, in order to attack it, bombard it, and attack Venezuela.'

Hoyos called for Venezuela's cooperation in dismantling the alleged guerrilla camps and for an international commission to verify the situation within 30 days.

But Venezuela's OAS ambassador, Roy Chaderton, called the report 'a set- up,' while, in Caracas, Foreign Minister Nicolás Maduro and the president of the National Assembly, Cilia Flores, also had choice words for the Colombian move.

Professor Romero noted that 'Uribe set a trap for Chávez by announcing in his diplomatic tone that he would present evidence -- which it wasn't. The Venezuelan president had the option to respond with coldness, and wait for the unknown Santo presidency to begin, or respond by severing relations to underscore the firmness of his position, which is what ultimately occurred.'

Former Venezuelan foreign minister Simón Alberto Consalvi believes the break 'was an improper response, because a crisis is when relations and dialogue are most necessary, and now it will require the intervention of third parties.'

The analysts agree in 'refusing to consider or even imagine' that the current climate could degenerate into armed confrontation.

The United States lamented the bilateral break, as did Uruguayan President José Mujica, who extended his good offices as mediator, while Chávez said he had received calls from Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and from former Argentine president Néstor Kirchner, who now serves as secretary- general of the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR).

Foreign Minister Maduro called for an urgent meeting of UNASUR's Political Council, made up of the 12 member countries' foreign ministers, 'to denounce this Colombian aggression against Venezuela.'

In the southwestern state of Táchira, which borders Colombia, the president of the region's employers' federation, José Rozo, also deplored 'these political measures that strain life on the border.'

A year ago, bilateral political and trade relations took a negative turn. Colombia ceded seven military bases for use by U.S. forces, which Chávez denounced as a form of aggression. Since then, Táchira has lost 25,000 jobs, and the neighbouring Colombian province of Norte de Santander has lost 35,000.

Trade between the two neighbours, which surpassed 7.0 billion dollars annually, had shrunk last year to just 1.2 billion. 'The merchants and residents along the border are hurt most by these presidential decisions,' said former Colombian president Ernesto Samper (1994-1998).

The offices of Uribe and Santos delayed in reacting to Chávez's announcement. Only vice-president-elect Angelino Garzón issued a statement: 'We will utilise all mechanisms available to improve relations with the entire region, including Venezuela.'

Chávez himself left a window open for Santos: 'We hope the new government of Colombia is flooded with the Latin American spirit and understands that here governments of the left and of the right can coexist. We hope that on Aug. 7 we can reinitiate a process of rapprochement,' he said.

© Inter Press Service (2010) — All Rights Reserved. Original source: Inter Press Service

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