Chavez calls Colombian defense Minister obstacle to bilateral peace

Venezuela's Chavez calls Colombian defense chief obstacle to peace

2008-07-13 23:02:11 -

MARACAIBO, Venezuela (AP) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez denounced Colombia's defense minister Sunday as an obstacle to peace with his U.S.-allied neighbor, demanding the military chief be put «in his place. Chavez reacted sharply to the defense minister's remarks about a meeting between Chavez and Colombian President Alvaro Uribe to mend relations and end an on-and-off feud. «If he were my minister, he would be dismissed by now,» Chavez said of Colombian Defense Minister Juan Manuel Santos, in a televised speech. «He's a warmonger. Santos had called Friday's presidential talks positive and suggested Colombia will be watching Chavez's stance toward leftist rebels of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC.
Santos said Saturday that «what interests us is simply that these word spoken (by Chavez) against the FARC translate into actions and that they not only cooperate but also don't tolerate the presence of the FARC there.
Colombian officials have long accused Venezuela of harboring several rebel leaders. The issue didn't come up in Uribe's public remarks after their talks, and Chavez has denied aiding the rebels.
The Venezuelan leader accused Santos of sniping at agreements with the Colombian president to follow the political line of the U.S. government, which Chavez opposes.
«He's the defense minister, and he wants to be president. It's a threat we have,» Chavez said. «He's shooting up the agreements we made. ... He's under whose orders? The United States.
Chavez said his message for Uribe is: «Let's turn the page, but put your defense minister in his place.Relations between Colombia and Venezuela sank to their lowest point in decades in March after Colombia attacked a rebel camp in Ecuador. Chavez responded by briefly dispatching troops to the Venezuela's border with Colombia and temporarily withdrawing his ambassador. Bogota, meanwhile, accused Chavez of offering an open-ended loan of at least US$250 million to the FARC _ charges bolstered by documents Colombia said were retrieved from a laptop at the bombed guerrilla camp. Chavez has denied the accusations.
Associated Press writer Vivian Sequera in Bogota, Colombia, contributed to this report.