By IANS
Bogota : Colombian President Alvaro Uribe has accused his Venezuelan counterpart Hugo Chavez of sponsoring terrorism, Spain’s EFE news agency reported Wednesday.
“Colombia proposes to denounce Hugo Chavez, the president of Venezuela, in the International Criminal Court, for sponsoring and financing a genocide,” Uribe told reporters Tuesday.
Uribe made the remark after visiting Gloria Polanco de Lozada, one of the four hostages turned over to Venezuela last week by Colombian rebels.
Colombia’s relations with Venezuela and Ecuador soured when they accused Bogota of violating Ecuador’s territorial sovereignty by conducting military operations inside that country against the hideouts of the leftist insurgent group Revolutionary Armed forces of Colombia (FARC).
FARC’s second most important leader Raul Reyes was killed in the operation.
In the backlash of the army operation across Ecuadorian border, Quito broke off diplomatic ties with Bogota Monday, while Venezuela expelled the Colombian ambassador. Both Ecuador and Venezuela have boosted their military presence on their borders with Colombia.
Uribe said Colombia “wants to get rid of the nightmare of terrorism and its sponsors once and for all”.
“We don’t need them just to give us pats on the shoulder to express their condolences over our terror victims, when they continue to give asylum to Colombian insurgents in their territory,” he said.
The FARC is designated as a foreign terrorist organisation by both the US and the European Union.
On Monday, Uribe’s government has said it would ask the Organisation of American States to investigate an alleged donation of $300 million from the Venezuelan government to the FARC.