U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says she hopes Colombia and Venezuela’s agreement to fix their fractured relations will resolve “longstanding issues” between the neighbor nations.
Speaking in Washington on Wednesday, Clinton said “We hope this outreach by President Santos and the reception by President Chavez leads to some positive resolution of the longstanding issues.”
The secretary of state expressed the U.S.’s appreciation for “the constructive, positive role that Argentina is playing in encouraging a peaceful resolution of the issues between Colombia and Venezuela.” Argentine Foreign Minister Hector Timerman was also present at the press conference.
Clinton’s comments follow a summit held Tuesday in the Colombian port of Santa Marta between Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos and his Venezuela counterpart Hugo Chavez, at which the leaders re-established ties broken by Chavez after former Colombian President Alvaro Uribe accused the neighboring country of harboring terrorists.
After the summit, Chavez said he was ready to “turn the page” in relations with Bogota and stressed that he does not support the presence of Colombian guerrillas in Venezuela.
At the meeting Santos and Chavez agreed to create five bilateral commissions whose goal will be to repair fractured ties between the neighbor nations.
Colombian Foreign Minister Maria Angela Holguin will meet with her Venezuelan counterpart Nicolas Maduro in Caracas on August 20 to oversee the creation of the commissions.