President Hugo Chávez's government lamented the decision announced by the Colombian president Álvaro Uribe to terminate the Venezuelan president's mediation to reach an agreement with Colombian rebel group FARC on an exchange of hostages for guerrillas in jail.

The Venezuelan government expressed its regrets through an official communiqué made public on the web page of the Ministry of Communication and Information.

"We have been surprised by the decision of the Colombian government to put an end to the mediation efforts conducted by President Hugo Chávez and Colombian Senator Piedad Córdoba to reach an agreement on a humanitarian swap," said the government in the communiqué.

"The Venezuelan government accepts this sovereign decision of the Colombian government, but expresses its frustration since this decision aborts a process that has been conducted with firm determination and amid huge difficulties, achieving in three months only an important progress that made us envisage a possible solution for the drama affecting our sister nation."