Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez was in Colombia on Saturday to meet Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos, and Honduran President Porfirio Lobo, with trade and smoothing ties with the Central American country topping the agenda.
The leftist Chavez, a fierce critic of US policy, has a solid practical relationship with Santos, a former defense chief and one of Washington’s closest allies in South America. Santos has worked to improve trade with its oil-producing neighbor, despite their policy disagreements.
Lobo arrived at the event to discuss his country’s return to the Organization of American States (OAS) after it was kicked out following a coup that toppled leftist former Honduran president Manuel Zelaya in June 2009.
Lobo was elected president in November 2009, amid a political impasse between the de facto government that followed the coup and Zelaya, who was supported by Chavez and had taken refuge in the Brazilian embassy to press for his return to office.
Venezuela, Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay refused to acknowledge the legality of the Honduran vote.
Zelaya is currently in exile in the Dominican Republic, and will not return to Honduras until he is guaranteed immunity from legal action. His return is a condition for the OAS to re-admit Honduras.
It is the third time that Chavez and Santos have met since ties between the neighbors were restored after they were severed under former Colombian president Alvaro Uribe.
Since then, Colombia and Venezuela have signed agreements to improve security and cooperation along their common border.
The Chavez-Santos meeting focused on increasing trade and cooperation in the fight against illegal drug trafficking.
As a sign of good faith, Santos earlier announced that he would extradite Venezuelan drug lord Walid Makled to his home country, and not the US, where he is also wanted on criminal charges.
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