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Venezuela reopens relations with Colombia

Other News Materials 10 March 2008 16:39 (UTC +04:00)

(dpa) - Venezuela re-established relations with Colombia as a Latin America diplomatic crisis triggered by a Colombian airstrike inside Ecuador came to an end.

The Venezuelan government said its diplomats withdrawn from Bogota a week ago would return immediately to their posts, while Colombian diplomats would again be allowed to enter Venezuela.

In addition to Venezuela, Ecuador had also broke off relations with Colombia after the February 29 Colombian military attack against rebels of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), who were on Ecuadorian territory.

The second in command of the Marxist group, Raul Reyes, was killed in the Colombian action. Both Venezuela and Ecuador labelled the killing "murder" and massed troops on the Colombian border.

In a summit last week of the Rio Group in the Dominican Republic, the left-leaning presidents of Ecuador and Venezuela, Rafael Correa and Hugo Chavez, sharply criticized conservative Colombian President Alvaro Uribe.

The leaders, however, were able to set aside their differences at the end of the summit on Friday with Correa making clear his disposition to work with Bogota on policing the common border and Uribe committing to not repeating such a military operation on a neighbour's territory.

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