Colombian senator tells Chavez: ‘Open Your Eyes!’

BOGOTA, (Reuters) – Colombia’s diplomatic spat with  Venezuela took a new turn this week with a series of billboards  in Bogota showing pictures of Hugo Chavez, the leader of the  neighbouring country, with his eyes closed.
“Hey!”, the billboards say, “Open your eyes!”

For years Colombia has asked the self-styled socialist  revolutionary to do more to help combat Marxist Colombian  guerrillas widely despised in the country for their violence  and use of kidnapping.
But relations between the countries have only worsened.

Chavez accuses Colombian conservative President Alvaro  Uribe and the United States of planning an invasion of  Venezuela in a bid to take over the OPEC-member country’s vast  oil reserves. Both countries dismiss the claim.

Colombian Senator Armando Benedetti, an Uribe loyalist,  organized the publicity campaign to rally Colombians around  their government as South American leaders gather for a summit  in Argentina today.

Chavez and leftist Ecuadorean leader Rafael Correa have  blasted Colombia for negotiating a plan with Washington to  increase U.S. military cooperation as part of a long-standing  alliance against cocaine traffickers and Marxist guerrillas.

Correa is also featured on some of the billboards. He broke  diplomatic ties with Colombia last year after the Colombian  military bombed a rebel camp on Ecuador’s side of the border.