The Colombian Government is waiting for an official declaration from Venezuela regarding President Hugo Chávez announcement that his country is withdrawing from the Andean Community of Nations (CAN.)

Chávez argued that Venezuela is retiring from the trade bloc because Bogotá and Lima have signed Free Trade Agreement with Washington.

Colombian Foreign Trade Minister, Jorge Humberto Botero, said that this issue must be dealt with "a lot of caution," because Caracas has not issued any official announcement on leaving CAN.

"Until we have an official declaration, we must act with a lot of caution due to the importance of relationships between our nations. Our Foreign Affairs Minister (Carolina Barco) talked with her Venezuela counterpart (Alí Rodríguez) and he had no official news about it."

On his part, CAN Secretary General, Peruvian Alan Wagner, said that Caracas announcement was "surprising," since no Venezuelan official had told him about this decision.