Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez will head on Tuesday for Ecuador to initial several oil agreements with his Ecuadorian counterpart Rafael Correa and try to bridge the gap in order to get Colombian-Ecuadorian relations back to normal, following a standoff last March.

The visit centerpiece will be an agreement to organize a bilateral joint venture by state-run companies Petróleos de Venezuela (Pdvsa) and Petroecuador. The instrument deals with the building of a petrochemical compound in the coastal province of Manabí, west Ecuador, AFP quoted.

During the one-day visit, the two presidents will hold a private meeting, the Ecuadorian presidential press office told AFP.

Chávez is expected to talk with Correa about the possibility of "restoring direct relations" with the government of Colombian President Álvaro Uribe.

The Ecuadorian government broke diplomatic ties with Colombia after a raid by the Colombian army on a camp of the Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC) located in Ecuador. During the operation on March 1st, FARC second-in-command Raúl Reyes was killed.