Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez called on Venezuelans to welcome his Colombian counterpart Juan Manuel Santos when visiting Caracas on Tuesday.
In his weekly television show, Chavez said that “we wish the Colombian President a welcome. We must welcome him.”
“I will receive him in (presidential palace) Miraflores. We are very interested in re-establishing relations with Colombia and not be provoked from there or from here, because (Colombia) is our brother people,” the Venezuelan head of state added.
According to Chavez, one of the topics to be discussed is the extradition of Venezuelan businessman and suspected drug trafficker Walid Makled, who was arrested in the Colombian city of Cucuta in August.
It’s the second time Santos and Chavez have met after the Colombian President’s inauguration in August. High officials are meeting on a regular basis to normalize the relations between neighbors that worsened throughout the administrations of former President Alvaro Uribe and were cut by Chavez weeks before the end of Uribe’s turn after Colombia accused Venezuela of harboring terrorists.