Colombia, Venezuela Settle Rebel Dispute

[cal04]

Venezuela and Colombia announced a settlement Friday in a bitter dispute over the capture of a Colombian rebel on Venezuelan soil, easing the worst diplomatic crisis between the South American countries in decades. Colombian President Alvaro Uribe's office said in a statement Friday night that "the incident has been resolved" and that Uribe would meet Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on Thursday in Venezuela.

The conflict began nearly seven weeks ago, when the prominent Colombian rebel Rodrigo Granda stepped outside a cafe onto the streets of Caracas and bounty hunters seized him, pushed him into a sport utility vehicle and drove him to Colombia to claim their reward.

Chavez had called Granda's capture a kidnapping that violated his country's sovereignty and demanded that Uribe "rectify" the situation. Uribe had insisted his government had the right to offer rewards for "terrorists." The carefully worded statement from Colombia appeared to bridge the differences, referring to a shared strategy "against terrorism, drug trafficking, smuggling, kidnapping and other crimes." It also said both sides would have "the strictest respect for the law and in particular the sovereignty of both countries."

Uribe's office said during the meeting next week he would "listen to President Chavez and propose ways to reflect." Venezuelan Foreign Minister Ali Rodriguez told the state-run Bolivarian News Agency he was pleased to have settled the dispute.


http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20050129/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/venezuela_rebel_rift

[tkmorris]

1. It would be good if this is the case

but I notice that this report comes from Uribe's office. I have to wonder if the Chavez government feels the issue is settled as well.

[cal04]

3. We received the communiqué gladly and as a positive gesture

Venezuela’s foreign minister, Ali Rodriguez, said in response to the communiqué, “We received the communiqué gladly and as a positive gesture from our brother-country, the Republic of Colombia.” “Immediately the Venezuelan government will give a response in the same tone, as we believe that spaces have been opened for the overcoming this lamentable incident,” added Rodriguez.

Peru’s foreign minister, Manuel Rodriguez, who negotiated the deal, said, “This is a good agreement—very beneficial not just for both countries, but also for the stability of the region. It is an agreement that satisfies both parties and, most importantly, I believe it contains dispositions so that both governments may coordinate in the struggle against terrorism, narco-trafficking, kidnapping, and other crimes.”Resolution was preceded by meeting of Venezuela’s and Colombia’s foreign ministers

Venezuelan Foreign Minister Ali Rodriguez met with his Colombian counterpart, Carolina Barco, yesterday, in the Peruvian capital in an attempt to resolve the diplomatic crisis that has plagued the Andean neighbors since last December.

In the first informal meeting between Colombia and Venezuela since January 12th, Barco stated that her country was not going to apologize to Venezuela, but that both nations would continue to work towards a solution to the diplomatic crisis between them. “We will not apologize,” affirmed Barco to reporters in the headquarters of the Andean Community of Nations in the Peruvian capital after holding the first of two meetings with Rodriguez.

http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/news.php?newsno=1485

[bahrbearian]

2. So did Chimpy have to return the 4 kilos of coke that he recieved

on his little juant through Columbia last year.

[Robbien]

4. Wednesday Reuters first reported a headline

that said Colombia felt hopeful after the first meeting. Then Reuters quickly came out with an updated headline which said "no resolution in sight" from the meeting. The propaganda arm of BushCo was working fast that day.

[bemildred]

5. Sounds like bullshit to me.

I wonder what is really going on?

[bemildred]

6. Maybe not bullshit:

Colombia, Venezuela Say Guerrilla Capture Dispute Settled

Jan. 29 (Bloomberg) -- Colombia and Venezuela said they ended a dispute that was sparked by Colombia's capture of a guerrilla leader in Caracas last month.

``The incident is settled,'' Colombia said in a statement issued late yesterday on the presidential palace's Web site. ``If something inappropriate happened in the opinion of Venezuela, it won't be repeated.''

Colombian President Alvaro Uribe and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez will meet on Feb. 3 in Venezuela, Colombia said in the statement. Venezuelan Vice President Jose Vicente Rangel said in a separate statement that resolution of the dispute ``shows that we have the capacity to solve difficult situations.''

Bloomberg

[Rose Siding]

7. Oh, my. How will Washington deal with this?

very interesting