By Xinhua
Caracas : Venezuela has re-established diplomatic relations with Colombia and will send its diplomatic staffs back to Bogata immediately, the foreign ministry has announced.
Venezuela has severed diplomatic ties with Colombian following the March 1 cross-border raid on a Colombian rebel guerrilla camp in Ecuador. At least 23 members of the leftist Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), including the groups’ second-in-command Raul Reyes, were killed in the raid, which provoked a huge regional tension.
Besides Venezuela, Ecuador and Nicaragua had also severed ties with Colombia.
But the leaders of all the four Latin American countries agreed to set aside their differences at the Rio Group summit Friday in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.
In a statement released Sunday, Venezuelan foreign ministry said it was reopening its embassy in Bogota and was willing to receive Colombian diplomats to Caracas.
The statement said that the Venezuelan government was pleased to see a victory for peace and sovereignty at the regional summit in Santo Domingo, where the presidents of Colombia, Ecuador and Venezuela shook hands and agreed to end the three-nation dispute.