Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva reiterated his willingness to act as a mediator between Venezuela and Colombia in a telephone call with Colombian President-elect Juan Manuel Santos, official sources said on Friday, EPA reports.
“Lula spoke to Santos and, although he gave no details about what was talked about, he said he believes it was a very positive conversation and helped in the preparation for an easing on the [political] stage,” said Marcelo Baumbach, a spokesman for the Brazilian presidency.
According to Baumbach, Lula “was satisfied” with the dialogue.”The conversation was very positive and can help a lot in reducing tensions,” the official added.
Baumbach said that Lula had planned to talk to Santos for several days, but had failed to do so because of scheduling problems, until “finally today there was that possibility.”
Referring to a Colombian press release that critized Lula for not recognizing “[Colombia’s] efforts to find solutions through dialogue,” the spokesman said that “Lula and believes that this episode is over. He would not discuss or comment on these statements.”
The Venezuelan president said on Thursday through the same same spokesman that he did not consider it appropriate to respond to Uribe’s statement.
Baumbach said there were no plans for any further discussion until Lula’s upcoming trip to Venezuela and Colombia, which he verified was confirmed.
Lula will visit the Venezuelan capital Caracas on August 6 to meet President Hugo Chavez before having dinner with Colombian President Uribe that night in Bogota, and attending the inauguration of President-elect Juan Manuel Santos the following day.
The crisis began a week ago when Venezuela broke relations with its neighbor after Colombia presented allegations to the Organization of American States of leftist guerrillas hiding out in Venezuelan territory.