Western Hemisphere
Former Colombian President Ernesto Samper warned on Wednesday against a "pre-war situation" with Venezuela due to the mishandling of the military agreement executed by Colombia and the United States for the use of military bases and lack of communication between the Colombian and Venezuelan governments.

The ex president told Caracol Radio that the crisis is bigger and bigger and efforts should be made to open communication channels between Colombian President Álvaro Uribe and his Venezuelan counterpart Hugo Chávez, Efe reported.

"I would dare say that we are in a pre-war situation; the mishandled issue of the bases; Venezuela feels threatened by the bases; the [Colombian] government signs the bases, without a public discussion on the matter and all this begins to accrue," he reasoned.

Colombia and the United States entered into an agreement last Friday that allows US troops and advisors to use at least seven Colombian military bases for antinarcotics efforts and fight against terrorism.