Archbishop: Colombian, Venezuelan bishops to offer to mediate dispute

Published: 2008-01-24

CARACAS, Venezuela (CNS) -- A Venezuelan archbishop said the Catholic bishops in his country and Colombia will offer to mediate a dispute between their nations' leaders. Archbishop Ubaldo Santana Sequera of Maracaibo, president of the Venezuelan bishops' conference, said Jan. 22 that Venezuelan and Colombian bishops would meet in Bogota, Colombia, in March to offer to help resolve the situation between the countries. Archbishop Santana called the dispute "very worrisome." Colombia's conservative President Alvaro Uribe and Venezuela's socialist President Hugo Chavez have been carrying on a verbal spat since early January, when Chavez called for Colombia's two leftist guerrilla groups to be removed from an international list of terrorist organizations. Chavez made his comments the day after the larger of the two guerrilla groups, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, known by its Spanish acronym FARC, freed two longtime political hostages by releasing them to Chavez's representatives. In response, the Colombian government reasserted its position that the guerrillas are terrorists and accused Chavez of meddling in Colombia's internal affairs.

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