Venezuela protests Colombia’s accusations that rebel leaders take refuge inside its borders

Venezuela denounces Colombia accusations on rebels

CARACAS, Venezuela — Venezuela called its ambassador home from Bogota for consultations Friday to protest accusations by the outgoing Colombian government that rebel leaders are taking refuge inside its borders.

Colombian officials have long complained, mostly in private, that President Hugo Chavez has harbored leaders of its two main rebel groups.

But on Thursday, the Colombian Defense Ministry showed video, photographs and satellite images to Colombian journalists that it said proved the presence of rebel leaders in neighboring Venezuela.

Colombia’s hard-line president, Alvaro Uribe, leaves office on Aug. 7. He’s been widely credited for seriously weakening Colombia’s leftist insurgencies, one of which killed his father in a botched 1983 kidnapping.

Because Uribe has frequently feuded with the Venezuelan president, many Colombians believe the renewed accusations show his dissatisfaction with the olive branch that Colombia’s president-elect, Juan Manuel Santos, has extended to Chavez.

Trade between Venezuela and Colombia has fallen 70 percent since Chavez froze relations over the past year in response to Colombia’s decision to grant Washington expanded access to its military bases.

Chavez called Uribe a “mafioso” during a Friday speech.

“The new government of Colombia has a big obstacle, and it’s the old government that wants to dynamite” the relationship, Chavez said. But he also said he is adopting a wait-and-see approach to Santos.

Chavez said earlier this week that he is considering whether he will accept Santos’ invitation to attend his inauguration.

In remarks Thursday, Santos did not comment directly on the Uribe government’s renewed accusations against Venezuela, saying the people of both nations suffer when their leaders quarrel.

He has stressed the importance of mending trade relations with Venezuela that overwhelmingly benefit Colombia’s food producers.

Uribe’s government said in a statement Friday that it asked the Organization of American States to convene a special session to “examine the presence of Colombian terrorists in Venezuelan territory.” It cited numerous failed efforts to resolve the problem through direct dialogue with Venezuela.

In Washington, U.S. State Department Spokesman P.J. Crowley expressed concern and also said that “some of this is not new.”

“Venezuela is obliged, as a member of the United Nations, the OAS … to deny terrorist groups the ability to operate within its territory,” Crowley told reporters. “We’ve been concerned about this for some time.”

Associated Press Writers Libardo Cardona and Carlos Gonzalez, in Bogota, Colombia, contributed to this report.