Venezuela and Colombia Spar over Rebel Sanctuaries

Diplomatic ties between Bogota and Caracas are once again on the rocks, even as President Álvaro Uribe counts down his last days in office. The shakeup comes after Colombia filed a July 20 complaint with the Organization of American States (OAS) against Venezuela for providing safe haven to Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) camps. Colombia withdrew its ambassador from Venezuela before the matter was debated during an extraordinary OAS session on Thursday. Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, who already recalled Caracas' ambassador to Bogota on July 16, reciprocated by declaring a break in diplomatic relations while the session occurred. At the meeting, Colombia’s ambassador presented evidence he said proved Venezuela’s complicity in providing a safe haven for insurgents from the FARC and the National Liberation Army. The dispute comes as Colombia celebrated its bicentennial and prepared for the power handover from President Álvaro Uribe to President-elect Juan Manuel Santos on August 7. Trade relations between the two neighbors were already harmed and the dispute could complicate efforts by both governments to improve their economies.

During Thursday’s showdown at the OAS, Colombia’s ambassador leveled specific charges against Venezuela, including a list of names of Venezuelan officials he said have knowledge of the camps’ presence. Ambassador Luis Alfonso Hoyos charged that Venezuela currently harbors 1,500 rebel insurgents operating in 87 guerilla camps and said top FARC commanders have received material support from Caracas. Hoyos also showed a map of the suspected camps inside Venezuela where rebels train, as well as a video of a well-known FARC leader there. The envoy explained that Colombia’s efforts to stem drug trafficking and terrorism with the help of its neighbors had been successful with the exception of Venezuela. He urged his counterpart and the government of Venezuela to cooperate with Colombia by handing over FARC and ELN guerrilla leaders and dening them safe havens. “We simply can’t cover the sun with one hand,” he said.

Venezuelan Ambassador to the OAS Roy Chaderton Matos responded to the accusations by his Colombian counterpart calling them “fantasías garciamarquianas,” comparing the charges to the fictional works of famed Colombian novelist Gabriel García Márquez. Ahead of the meeting, Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez asked his envoy to the OAS, ”not to be provoked,” adding: “Tomorrow we will start the diplomatic battle.” The meeting also came on the heels of a Tuesday morning incursion by Venezuelan forces into Colombia’s Norte de Santander province.

The OAS meeting capped off a period of troubled bilateral relations that have delivered a negative economic punch. In July 2009, Caracas closed its border to Colombian goods because of Bogota’s decision to permit U.S. troops to operate out of bases inside Colombia. Until then, Venezuela was Colombia’s second largest market after the United States. The move led to a 71.4 percent drop in exports from Colombia to Venezuela. Colombia’s Director of Planning Esteban Piedrahita estimates the trade disruption cost Colombia as much as one percent of its annual GDP growth. Still, in May, Colombia surpassed economic expectations when it posted a 2.5 percent growth in GDP over the previous year, leaving Venezuela as the only South American country still in recession.

Bogota finds itself in the midst of an economic recovery that President-elect Santos pledged to sustain while on the campaign trail. The Economist reports that Uribe’s decision to lodge a complaint against Venezuela during his last few weeks in office could put a damper on the president-elect’s more conciliatory tone toward Venezuela. Santos had taken steps such as extending an invitation—since refused—for Chávez to attend the inauguration. “It seems [Uribe] feared that his successor, who by comparison is more flexible and calculating, was being too friendly to Chávez,” says the article. “Santos is hardly a dove, but he argues that the only way to get Venezuela’s help against the FARC is to normalize relations.”

Learn More:

• Read a 2009 AS/COA analysis about troubled ties between Venezuela and Colombia, and Caracas' decision to cut trade relations.
• The Wall Street Journal provides a map detailing FARC and ELN occupied areas in Venezuela.
• The International Crisis Group features an interactive on the FARC.
• Reuters provides a Factbox detailing the history of tensions between Venezuela and Colombia.