Colombian President Alvaro Uribe

Venezuela accused 60 Colombian soldiers of illegally entering its territory. Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro said troops were intercepted yards from the nations' shared border in Venezuela's western Apure state. Colombian President Alvaro Uribe announced that he had asked his nation's army to investigate the charge. If true, Uribe vowed that Colombia would apologize.

Even in the gloom of an international economic crisis, there is a bright spot of hope: free trade. Successful trade pacts with Panama and Colombia and a pending agreement with South Korea will serve to accelerate investment opportunities across a broad spectrum of business and industry, including agriculture, communications technology and natural resources — for Canada, that is. As for the United States, the best that can be said is that farmers,...

Colombian President Alvaro Uribe has the swine flu. Social Protection Minister Diego Palacio said the 57-year-old Uribe is not considered a high-risk patient and his case is "developing satisfactorily." He is being treated at the presidential residence. Palacio said Uribe began feeling ill Friday during a summit of South American leaders in Bariloche, Argentina. The Colombian leader was confirmed to have the swine flu the next day. Colombian officials are contacting leaders and officials who may have had contact with Uribe during the summit.

In an effort to improve severely strained diplomatic relations, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and newly inaugurated Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos plan a summit Tuesday likely to include discussion of the alleged presence of Colombian rebels in Venezuela and frozen cross-border trade. Chavez and Santos, who was sworn in Saturday, have expressed a desire to improve relations between their nations after tension between Chavez and former Colombian President Alvaro Uribe.

Re "Newsman at Risk in Colombia Gets Help," Oct. 2 It is unfortunate that in telling the frightening story of Daniel Coronel, The Times resurrects previously discredited allegations against Colombian President Alvaro Uribe. Coronel is, as the article rightly points out, one of Colombia's corps of courageous journalists. But to illustrate the dangers Coronel faces, The Times cited a 1991 report by a "U.S. intelligence official" tying Uribe to narcotics. I recall that report clearly.

Re "Colombia army chief linked to outlaw militias," March 25 Shame on The Times for publishing a front-page article that is mainly designed to play into political games with the clear objective of making Colombian President Alvaro Uribe's government look bad. It is amazing that I have to read more than half of the article before I find that a CIA spokesperson said the sources are unconfirmed. The Uribe government has enjoyed tremendous support among Colombians, and Colombia has been our best friend in the Americas.

President Hugo Chavez on Saturday announced the return of his ambassador to Colombia, but said Venezuela still intended to take a stand against negotiations to lease seven Colombian military bases to the U.S. Chavez told Ambassador Gustavo Marquez to return to Bogota, the Colombian capital, 11 days after the diplomat was recalled. He also reiterated concerns that the U.S. could use bases in Colombia to destabilize the region. "We're not telling Colombia what it has to do with its territory," Chavez said from Caracas, the Venezuelan capital, in an interview with Colombia's RCN television.

President Hugo Chavez recalled his ambassador to Colombia on Tuesday after the neighboring country said antitank weapons found in a rebel arms cache came from Venezuela. Chavez also said he would sever diplomatic ties and seize control of Colombian-owned businesses in his country "if there's one more accusation against Venezuela." Relations between the two South American nations have been rocky in recent years. The fiery Venezuelan leader recently criticized a pending deal to increase the U.S.

President Obama, who withheld his support for a free-trade agreement with Colombia when he was a senator, recently sounded a more positive note on the issue. At a joint news conference this week with Colombian President Alvaro Uribe, Obama commended him for the progress his country has made in addressing human rights violations.

Tensions are bubbling once more along the rugged 1,200-mile border between Venezuela and Colombia. Using videos and photos, Colombian diplomats accused Venezuela of tolerating the presence of 1,500 leftist rebel fighters and several top leaders in its territory. They made the charges in a presentation Thursday before the Organization of American States. They requested an international body to monitor the border and verify the presence of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia , or FARC.

On his inauguration day eight years ago, leftist guerrillas tried to kill Colombian President Alvaro Uribe with a rocket and mortar attack. The U.S. government had drawn up contingency plans for a rebel-led government, and citizens were hunkering down in their homes at night in fear. As Colombians who lived through those dark days know, Uribe on Saturday will turn over a far safer country to his successor, former Defense Minister Juan Manuel Santos, who was elected in a June landslide after promising to continue Uribe's policies.

Tensions are bubbling once more along the rugged 1,200-mile border between Venezuela and Colombia. Using videos and photos, Colombian diplomats accused Venezuela of tolerating the presence of 1,500 leftist rebel fighters and several top leaders in its territory. They made the charges in a presentation Thursday before the Organization of American States. They requested an international body to monitor the border and verify the presence of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia , or FARC.

Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates voiced support Thursday for a U.S. free trade agreement with Colombia, a treaty considered a critical reward for one of Washington's strongest allies in the region. The proposed agreement, first signed during the George W. Bush administration, has long been supported by U.S. businesses but opposed by labor and human rights groups because of Bogota's history of harsh intolerance of labor activism. Defense Department officials have favored the pact as a way to reward Colombia for its successful effort at beating back drug trafficking and the country's insurgency.

Venezuelan authorities Wednesday recovered the body of the 11th and last man who was kidnapped near the Colombian border and killed execution-style in an incident that has stoked tensions between the neighboring countries. Officials in San Cristobal, the capital of the Venezuelan border state of Tachira, identified the final victim as Jose Luis Arenas, 21, a Colombian whose body was found near the town of El Pinal. The bodies of several other victims had been found there Saturday.

Two summers ago, drug gangs, leftist rebels and right-wing militias traded mortar and machine-gun fire daily as they vied for control of this steamy port city. Teens were paid $200 a month -- a king's ransom in this impoverished community -- to act as lookouts for narcos. Armed groups fought it out in the neighborhoods and trash-strewn inlets from which 60-foot speedboats departed for Central America and Mexico with illicit drug loads. With an average of three killings a day, Buenaventura's homicide rate was among the highest on the planet.

Colombian President Alvaro Uribe has cleared the last legislative hurdle to running for a third term, a prospect that his U.S. allies look upon with ambivalence. By a vote of 85 to 5, the lower house of Congress late Tuesday greenlighted a voter referendum early next year that could pave the way for Uribe to be on the May presidential ballot. The Senate approved the measure last month. If so, it would be the second time Uribe has circumvented a constitutional ban on reelection, a measure many Latin American countries put into law to prevent the ascension of caudillos , or political leaders who have kept themselves in power.

In an effort to improve severely strained diplomatic relations, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and newly inaugurated Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos plan a summit Tuesday likely to include discussion of the alleged presence of Colombian rebels in Venezuela and frozen cross-border trade. Chavez and Santos, who was sworn in Saturday, have expressed a desire to improve relations between their nations after tension between Chavez and former Colombian President Alvaro Uribe.

Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates voiced support Thursday for a U.S. free trade agreement with Colombia, a treaty considered a critical reward for one of Washington's strongest allies in the region. The proposed agreement, first signed during the George W. Bush administration, has long been supported by U.S. businesses but opposed by labor and human rights groups because of Bogota's history of harsh intolerance of labor activism. Defense Department officials have favored the pact as a way to reward Colombia for its successful effort at beating back drug trafficking and the country's insurgency.

Colombian President Alvaro Uribe has the swine flu. Social Protection Minister Diego Palacio said the 57-year-old Uribe is not considered a high-risk patient and his case is "developing satisfactorily." He is being treated at the presidential residence. Palacio said Uribe began feeling ill Friday during a summit of South American leaders in Bariloche, Argentina. The Colombian leader was confirmed to have the swine flu the next day. Colombian officials are contacting leaders and officials who may have had contact with Uribe during the summit.

Colombian President Alvaro Uribe set out on a tour of South America last week to reassure his counterparts that the looming U.S. military buildup in his country poses no threat to them. But it's not just Uribe who needs to be soothing and -- dare we employ one of President Obama's favorite words -- transparent. Washington too should be working hard to quell the fears it has raised in the region. Details of an agreement giving U.S. personnel access to Colombian military bases are not finalized, but the United States is expected have a significant presence at three air bases and two naval bases, greatly increasing its capability to monitor not only local drug traffickers but neighboring countries.