Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez will come to Cartagena on January 24 to meet with his
Colombian counterpart Álvaro Uribe.
Chávez said today during an event in Zulia state that he is
willing to help Colombia’s government reach a peaceful end to its
decades-long conflict with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of
Colombia, a drug-funded rebel group that promotes a Marxist
ideology.
Chávez last year urged recognition of the militants as
belligerents, rather than terrorists, as they are considered by
the U.S. and other countries. Tensions between Venezuela and
Colombia spiked in March after Uribe launched an attack on a
rebel camp a mile inside Ecuador, a Chávez ally.
The two presidents last met July 11 in Venezuela where they
pledged to start a “new phase” in bi-lateral relations. (Bloomberg)