Colombia voices skepticism over UNASUR crisis meeting

Foreign Minister Jaime Bermudez said Thursday he didn't expect a lot from the emergency meeting of the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) on the country's feud with Venezuela.

"I really don't have high expectations for the meeting," Bermudez said in an interview with Caracol Radio before traveling to Quito for the meeting which started later in the day.

However, Colombia is willing to ask for an efficient cooperation mechanism so that neither the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) nor the National Liberation Army (ELN), nor any criminal group can be present in Venezuelan territory with the collusion of the authorities, or in any part of the world, he said.

Last week, Colombian representatives to the Organization of American States (OAS) presented a photo and video demonstration to show that Colombian guerrilla leaders were holing up in Venezuelan territory.

Venezuelan Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro has asked Colombia to withdraw its accusations at the UNASUR meeting but was rebuffed by the Colombian side.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has condemned the charges as a pretext for "armed aggression" and has severed diplomatic relations with Bogota.

Ecuador's Foreign Minister and UNASUR meeting host Ricardo Patino said all UNASUR members desire a peaceful solution to the Colombia-Venezuela row.

Source: Xinhua