Venezuela reinforces border troops amid row with Colombia
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Venezuela has beefed up its troops along the border with Colombia amid a row over Colombian accusations of the presence of Colombian guerrilla chiefs in Venezuelan territory.
Meanwhile, Venezuelan Ambassador to the United Nations Jorge Valero on Monday voiced hopes that Colombia will work with Caracas for a peaceful solution to the tensions.
Troop reinforcement
Venezuela has sent about 1,000 soldiers to the border region to reinforce posts along the border of more than 2,000 km. The soldiers arrived in the border region over the weekend.
The military of Venezuela have vowed to repel any attacks by Colombia.
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez cut off diplomatic ties with Colombia on Thursday after Bogota presented to the Organization of American States (OAS) the accusations that some Colombian guerrilla chiefs were in Venezuela.
Colombia said earlier that Swedish-made weapons bought by Venezuela during the 1980s had ended up in the hands of Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) rebels, who have been fighting the Bogota government for more than four decades.
The move further raised tensions between the two neighboring countries after Chavez previously called stronger military ties between Colombia and the United States a threat to his country.
Colombia announced earlier this month that the United States would use three bases in Colombia to fight drug trafficking.
Valero also accused the United States and Colombia of "increasing the war in Latin America."
Diplomacy
Chavez has threatened to cut off oil supplies to the United States if his country was attacked by U.S.-backed Colombia.
Venezuela is one of the main suppliers of oil to the United States, but it depends on the export of oil for 90 percent of its export earnings.
Venezuelan Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro on Monday warned of the possibility of Colombia raiding on his country, as he began a tour of seven South American countries.
Maduro "affirmed that South America is a zone of peace and union, to continue with the liberation project of building the large homeland of Simon Bolivar," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
