Colombia’s President-elect Juan Manuel Santos and Argentinian President Cristina Fernandez pledged to work together to promote unity in Latin America, during a meeting in the Argentinian capital city of Buenos Aires Monday.
Santos arrived in Argentina from Chile to attend the hour-long meeting with Fernandez. The incoming Colombian president later dined with Fernandez’s husband, former Argentinian President and current President of the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR), Nestor Kirchner, who will travel north on August 5 to meet separately with outgoing Colombian President Alvaro Uribe and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez regarding their nations’ bilateral crisis.
Santos maintained his policy of keeping tight-lipped regarding the crisis and declined to comment to the press following the Buenos Aires meetings. However a press release published by the Argentine foreign ministry said that Santos and Fernandez had discussed the Colombia-Venezuela spat.
Fernandez will meet with Venezuelan Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro Tuesday to discuss the crisis, at Maduro’s request. The foreign minister is attempting to rally regional support in the face of Colombia’s allegations of a guerrilla presence in Venezuela.
Incoming Colombian Foreign Minister Maria Angela Holguin, who attended the meetings alongside Santos, also declined to comment on the bilateral crisis, and added that the incoming administration will not comment until Santos assumes office on August 7.
Prior to his meetings in Argentina, Santos met with Chilean President Sebastian Pinera in the capital city of Santiago, as part of the Latin American tour he is undertaking before his inauguration.
Venezuela Monday requested that the United Nations (UN) distribute a letter to member states explaining the socialist country’s decision to cut all diplomatic ties with Colombia, following a presentation before the Organization of American States last Thursday, wherein Colombia presented allegations of the existence of 87 Colombian guerrilla bases on Venezuelan soil.
Representative from UNASUR member states will meet on Thursday in Quito, Ecuador to discuss the rupture of relations between Colombia and Venezuela.