CARACAS, Monday November 10, 2008 | Update
According to Bermúdez, Russia and Venezuela clarified that their exercises will not be on the Colombian border (Photo: John Vizcaino/Reuters)
Western Hemisphere
Foreign Minister of Colombia Jaime Bermúdez denied that
there will be diplomatic tensions with Venezuela due to the
military maneuvers in the Caribbean between the South American
country and Russia. Bermúdez said that, if necessary,
the issue could be discussed by the South American Council
of Defense, according to statements released on Monday.
"We have spoken with Russian and Venezuelan officials on
the issue and both have made clear that such maneuvers will
not take place in waters bordering Colombia. The situation
is clear and definite. If it were any regional concerns on
the issue, the matter would be brought to the South American
Council of Defense," Bermúdez told Colombian newspaper
"El Tiempo," DPA reported.
Previously, Colombian Defense Minister Juan Manuel Santos
had said that his country was "not indifferent" to the naval
exercises.
A fleet of Russian vessels set sail in September from Severomorsk
naval base for the Caribbean to take part in the exercises
ending November.
The fleet is composed of the main warship, nuclear-powered
missile cruiser "Peter the Great;" a submarine destroyer and
two escort ships, as part of the first naval deployment of
such an extent in Western waters ever seen since the Cold
War.
04:17 PM. Western Hemisphere. "Damned empire; I curse you one thousand times; some day you will be finished off and wrecked. I curse you one thousand times, empire." This is the least that President Hugo Chávez has uttered to refer to the US government. In urging the Bolivarian Armed Forces to prepare for war, he said that a US raid on Venezuela through Colombia would trigger and spread over the region "the 100-year war."