Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said on Tuesday that Venezuela was getting ready to break off diplomatic relations with Colombia over the neighboring country’s plan to give US troops greater access to its military bases.
Chavez said “there’s no possibility” of repairing relations with the government of Colombian President Alvaro Uribe and that he instructed his foreign minister to “begin preparing for the rupture with Colombia.”
“It’s going to happen. Let’s get ready,” he said.
Venezuela and Colombia have been feuding for weeks over the negotiations between Bogota and Washington that would allow the US military to increase its presence at seven Colombian bases through a 10-year lease agreement.
Colombian and US officials say the agreement is necessary to more effectively help Colombia’s security forces fight drug traffickers and leftist rebels.
During a visit to Brazil on Tuesday, Colombian Deputy Foreign Minister Clemencia Forero said she perceives “increasing understanding and more clarity among the region’s countries regarding the scope of an agreement that has the precise objective of fighting drug trafficking and terrorism.”
Chavez scoffed at such claims, calling Colombia “a narco-state” and charging its political leadership “lives off” the cocaine trade. He referred to the pending base deal as “a declaration of war against the Bolivarian Revolution,” referring to his socialist political movement.
He then raised his voice and said: “You can establish 70,000 Yankee bases surrounding Venezuela, but you aren’t going to beat the Bolivarian Revolution!”
The Venezuelan leader says the US government could use Colombian military installations as launching pads for future operations to unseat Latin American leaders.
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