Colombian chavista leader David Corredor announced he wants to meet with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez in a bid to smooth over hostilities between the two “brother countries”.
Corredor said he sees Colombia’s military bases agreement with the U.S. as a “declaration of war” against Venezuela.
Corredor, the president and presidential candidate of the Colombian Bolivarian Socialist Movemen (MSB), reiterated Chavez’s view that the U.S. is using the bases agreement with Colombia to destabilize Venezuela, El Espectador reported Monday.
Corredor said he wanted to meet with Chavez “to make [him] see how the population this side of the border has been affected [by tensions between the two countries] and we want to be the facilitators that reduce the hostility from this country towards Colombia”.
In regards to Chavez’s threat to close the border, and the resulting potential economic ramifications, Corredor said he would ask the Venezuelan leader not to commit the same economic errors with Colombia that the U.S had committed with Cuba.
Corredor’s movement has received criticism for having the same Bolivarian ideals as Chavez’s socialist government. The socialist leader was attacked by an angry mob in Medellin while campaigning for the Presidency in the Antioquian capital last week.
Relations between Venezuela and Colombia are under great pressure over soaring violence in the countries’ common border region and Colombia’s renewed military cooperation with the U.S, which Venezuela views as a threat to its sovereignty.
Corredor named November 18 as a tentative date for a potential meeting.