The U.S. government said that it would like to see greater “dialogue” between Colombia and Venezuela, in order to “arrive at a common understanding on how to work co-operatively on … security challenges.”
U.S. State Department spokesman Phillip J Crowley said that “it would be good for the region if those tensions were eased,” and that the U.S. “certainly supports greater interaction, co-operation and dialogue between Colombia and Venezuela.”
The comments follow Colombian allegations that Venezuela is harboring guerrillas, including FARC leaders Ivan Marquez and Rodrigo Granda.
Colombian Defense Minister Gabriel Silva and Foreign Minister Jaime Bermudez will present evidence to the Organization of American States (OAS) on Thursday, in a special meeting to address the issue.
On Wednesday Ecuadorean ambassador to the OAS Francisco Proaño resigned following pressure from the Ecuadorean foreign ministry to postpone the meeting.
Last week Colombia released data on what it says are exact locations of top FARC and ELN guerrilla commanders hiding-out in camps based in Venezuela.
According to Silva, a combination of information gathered from demobilized guerrillas and “technical intelligence” positions the FARC commander at North 10° 40′ 42“ West 72° 32′ 03,” in Venezuelan territory close to the Colombian border city of Villa del Rosario.
Incoming U.S. Ambassador to Colombia Michael McKinley said in early July that Washington “is concerned about the relation between members of the Venezuelan government and the FARC.”
McKinley said that the U.S. suspected two officials and a former official in Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez’s government of “materially supporting FARC drug trafficking activities.”
