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Venezuela President Hugo Chavez - Source: ONE News -
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Venezuela said that it had captured Colombian security agents it
said planned to destabilize the government, heightening tensions in
the ongoing diplomatic row between the Andean nations.
Venezuelan Deputy Foreign Minister Francisco Arias Cardenas
confirmed that there had been arrests, but did not provide details
or say how many Colombians were detained.
"Do not underestimate the importance of an event as serious and as
grave as the capture of Colombian DAS security agents committing
acts of espionage," Cardenas told reporters.
He said Venezuela would present evidence to support the charges in
the next few hours.
Diplomatic and commercial ties between the South American
neighbours have been frayed before.
Earlier this year, President Hugo Chavez suspended relations and
reduced trade over a Colombian plan to allow US troops to use seven
of its bases.
Tensions between Caracas and Bogota were reignited over the weekend
after the murder of 10 members of an amateur Colombian football
team across the border in Venezuela, an incident the Venezuelan
government said it would investigate.
Colombia's security agency DAS issued a statement denying that it
had sent agents into Venezula to spy or to destabilize the
government.
Maria Luisa Chiape, the Colombian ambassador to Venezuela, said,"I
will not be provoked. I think it is important not to lose sight of
the central point that is the fact 10 people, including eight
Colombians, were killed in a massacre."
Colombia demands probe
Colombian Minister of Foreign Affairs Jaime Bermudez called for an
investigation of the murders.
"The entire world is confident that Venezuela will conduct a
responsible, prompt, and transparent investigation," he said to
reporters in Bogota.
Colombian President Alvaro Uribe's close ties with Washington have
helped his government secure billions of dollars in US aid to fight
drug traffickers and leftist guerrillas.
Chavez, a leftist who has become a flag-bearer for anti-US
sentiment in the region, has sparred with Uribe over his country's
US-backed campaign against Marxist rebels.
Chavez denies charges he supports the FARC guerrillas.
Chavez's government claims the kidnapping and murder of the
Colombian football team is part of the prolonged civil conflict
within Colombia and has blamed the killings on Colombian ELN
rebels, the country's second largest guerrilla group.
Uribe has attributed the murders to terrorism and has requested the
Venezuelan government help protect the border population.
The porous border area between Colombia and Venezuela is populated
with various armed groups and drug traffickers.
Kidnapping, smuggling and extortion are common.
