The Colombian opposition views the visit of Colombian President Álvaro Uribe to his Venezuelan counterpart Hugo Chávez as a chance for reconciliation; whereas the Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC) are much weaker since the death of the second-in-command Raúl Reyes last March.

"Uribe should cash in on this meeting to pursue union in the hemisphere and take Colombia out of its isolation, where the United States are technically the only ones that support it for everything they do," said Senator Gustavo Petro, a strong opponent of Uribe's government.

"A major success of Chávez in this meeting would be to convince and commit Uribe to enter Unasur and the South American Defense Council." The Senator views these tools as fundamental to weaken once and for all the guerrillas' power.

In Petro's opinion, the outlook for both countries has changed a lot from January to June and the most important thing during the meeting in Coro, the capital city of western Falcón state, will be that both presidents realize about the need of joining efforts in strategic issues, including security against terrorism and economy.