MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

As tensions ease, Chavez reopens embassy in Colombia

Pte. Chavez and his counterpart Pte. Uribe

Venezuela said Sunday that it is reopening its embassy in Colombia and will allow back Colombian diplomats expelled last week by President Hugo Chavez in a crisis sparked by a cross-border Colombian attack on rebels in Ecuador.

The government cited an easing of tensions at a summit in the Dominican Republic on Friday, where President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela and Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa shook hands with Colombia's U.S.-backed leader, Alvaro Uribe, after a tense debate. The Venezuelan Foreign Ministry said it "has decided to re-establish the normal functioning of its diplomatic relations with the government of the Republic of Colombia," citing what it called a "victory for peace and sovereignty." Chavez ordered the Venezuelan embassy in Bogota and sent troops to the border with Colombia after Colombia's March 1 strike in Ecuador that killed 25 people including Raul Reyes, a spokesman and top leader of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC. Venezuela also said it was expelling Colombia's ambassador and all diplomatic personnel.