President Leonel Fernan-dez met with Colombia’s foreign minister and trade representatives and said he would soon meet Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to try to negotiate direct talks with his Colombian counterpart, Alvaro Uribe.
The Andean neighbours, who have clashed on and off for a decade, are at odds over a Colombian plan to allow US troops more access to its military bases, an accord Chavez says is part of a US-led threat to his OPEC country.
“It’s been a positive first meeting,” Fernandez said. “This helps us with their Venezuelan counterparts and to try to re-establish full relations between the two countries.”
Fernandez, who brokered a handshake between the two leaders after a 2008 crisis, said he believed a meeting between Uribe and Chavez was possible. He planned to meet with Venezuela’s foreign minister in Santo Domingo on Monday.
