Colombia and Venezuela suspended a meeting of high level officials
planned for Tuesday in Bogota, sources within the Colombian
Foreign Ministry said without giving further details.
The cancellation of the meeting comes after Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez announced Tuesday morning to review ties with Colombia after Bogota agreed to host “US bases” in the country.
“Now that the gringos want to set up four bases in Colombia… it
forces us to revise our relations with Colombia,” Chavez said on a
state television station.
The Colombian government recently announced a deal allowing US troops to operate from Colombian military facilities.
Chavez
said the deal was a “threat” to Venezuela which “opened the door to our
constant attackers and those preparing fresh aggressions against us.”
According to local media, the Venezuelan ambassador in Bogota, Gustavo Marquez Marin, traveled to Caracas to discuss the situation with the Venezuelan government.