PUNTO FIJO, Venezuela (AFP) — The presidents of Venezuela and Colombia, Hugo Chavez and Alvaro Uribe, put aside months of animosity to meet in northwest Venezuela with the aim of normalizing ties.
"As of now, a new stage begins with Colombia," Chavez told a joint press conference Friday.
The leaders, who held their two-hour talks in the town of Punto Fijo, had nourished sharp differences on the issue of the FARC, Colombia's notorious guerrilla group, with Chavez ideologically supporting them and Uribe considering them a terrorist threat to be eradicated.
But with the liberation early this month of 15 FARC hostages, including Franco-Colombian politician Ingrid Betancourt and three US defense contractors, and the weakening of the rebels' leadership, the situation has changed in Uribe's favor.
Chavez has since stepped away from his rhetorical backing of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia guerrillas and ended his insults against his Colombian counterpart, whom he has said before the meeting he would now treat as a "brother."
Chavez said his meeting with Uribe "began and ended well. It ends with great optimism on both sides ... I thank Uribe his visit, his gesture, so that with this frank and warm conversation we can completely turn the page on a storm past."
"We've decided to get back on the path we've been building since you took over the Colombian presidency," he added looking at Uribe.
The Colombian president said the meeting was "very constructive (and) planned in the most positive spirit."
The last time the two met was in late 2007, before Uribe publicly dropped Chavez as official mediator with the FARC amid longstanding tensions between the two forceful personalities.
Things got worse in March, when a cross-border raid by Colombian forces into Ecuador, a Venezuelan ally, to kill a FARC leader, Raul Reyes, prompted Chavez to mobilize troops along the Venezuela-Colombia border. Ecuador severed diplomatic relations with Venezuela over the raid.
The FARC rebels also sought to stir the pot by releasing six hostages to Chavez in January and February in a bid to embarrass Uribe.
Colombia, for its part, crowed that it had captured computers in its Ecuador raid showing Chavez had financially and possibly militarily supplied the FARC.
But the triumph of the release of Betancourt and the other hostages this month -- said to have been secured through a daring Colombian military operation in which soldiers masqueraded as aid workers -- and Venezuela's dependence on Colombian trade for basic foodstuffs and other goods eventually put pressure on the neighbors to smooth over their dispute.
Uribe said he hoped to establish "direct talks" with FARC to reach a peace agreement that could be verified by an international committee, and he thanked Venezuela and Cuba for their mediating efforts.
The Colombian leader also said he wanted to mend fences with Ecuador. "We hope our relations with Ecuador can be repaired as soon as possible," he said, adding that he had conveyed his intention to Chavez.
Chavez announced he will be traveling to Ecuador on Tuesday and would be happy to relay Uribe's message to President Rafael Correa.
"I'm sure President Correa will be ready to ultimately resume direct relations with Colombia," Chavez said. "As a friend to both, we're always prepared to help."
Friday's meeting focused on cooperation along the shared border and trade.
Several accords were expected to be signed, including increasing the quota of Colombian vehicles imported into Venezuela, investment protection, a treaty on income taxes, and a promise to facilitate the passage of goods across the border.
Colombia is Venezuela's second-biggest trading partner, after the United States which buys up much of its oil, and exchanges amount to around six billion dollars a year. Colombian exports to Venezuela exceed Venezuelan exports to its neighbor.
"This meeting holds an intention for closer ties, cooperation, peace and Latin American integration," Chavez said ahead of his encounter with Uribe.
The presidents also plan to visit a huge oil refinery in the nearby town of Amuay. It was there in November 2005 that the two agreed to build a cross-border gas pipeline which was inaugurated on the Colombian side last year.
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