COLOMBIA: Talks between Venezuelan opposition leader Henrique Capriles and Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos strains relations between the neighbouring countries

Record ID: 187263

  • Title: COLOMBIA: Talks between Venezuelan opposition leader Henrique Capriles and Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos strains relations between the neighbouring countries
  • Date: 30th May 2013
  • Summary: CARACAS, VENEZUELA (FILE) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF VENEZUELAN CONGRESS
  • Embargoed: 14th June 2013 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Colombia
  • Country: Colombia
  • Topics: International Relations,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVACJ2OVDVX0JAY25O8ZAVSLO228
  • Story Text: Venezuelan opposition leader Henrique Capriles flew into Bogota on Wednesday (May 29) for talks with Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos' that Venezuela's second most powerful official called a "bomb" in ties between the South American neighbours.
    Capriles met Santos in Bogota at the start of various visits round Latin America to press his case that last month's presidential election in Venezuela was fraudulent and President Nicolas Maduro's government is therefore illegitimate.

    "We've come to request an audit, there was also a commitment on behalf of UNASUR (Union of South American Nations) that in our country, of a commitment of the Venezuelan electoral body to an audit, an audit that was not done, an audit that has been developed but is a farce. We are here to fight for truth, transparency, this is the fight that we have, we have to raise across all of our Latin America the struggle for truth, the struggle for justice. The will of our people does not exist in a government that wants to twist the will of the people, what the people decide is what has to be," said Capriles.
    The 40-year-old business-friendly state governor lost to Maduro, the successor to late socialist leader Hugo Chavez, by just 1.5 percentage points, according to official results.
    Capriles, whose politics are closer to Santos' than Maduro's are, also met with Colombia's parliament leaders during Wednesday's (May 29) visit. He said he was taking his demand for justice abroad given that it was being stymied at home by officials and the media.

    "The situation of the media is becoming more difficult. Yesterday, some Venezuelans told me they were covering this visit via you all (Colombian media). Because the government, you know day by day, also has control of the private media precisely so I don't have the opportunity to express and inform our people or so that you journalists can report. In our country you can only hear the voice of the Venezuelan government. This is very serious," he added.
    The Maduro government has vilified Capriles as a "fascist" trying to stir a coup in Venezuela.
    The head of Venezuela's congress Diosdado Cabello, who is also the No. 2 in the ruling Socialist Party, reacted with fury to news of Capriles' meeting in Bogota.

    "We are highly suspicious, it's highly disturbing that a government that claims to be a friend of the people of Venezuela and wants to maintain good relations with Venezuela has not just derailed the train of good relations, but put a bomb. President Santos is putting a bomb on the train of good relations that President Chavez asked for," he declared.
    Colombia is a major U.S. ally and the government before Santos had dire relations with Chavez's administration.
    But despite ideological differences, Santos patched things up with Chavez in the name of pragmatism and regional solidarity after taking power in 2010. That helped trade to flow and enabled both sides to chase criminal gangs on the border.
    Venezuela's Maduro has not specifically referred to Capriles' visit, though on Tuesday (May 28) he said that "right-wing" Venezuelans were travelling around the region planning economic sabotage and assassinations against his government.
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