 President Hugo Chavez said Friday diplomatic and commerical relations with Colombia would be suspended until it apologized for paying bounty hunters to snatch a senior rebel from inside Venezuela. "I've ordered all agreements and business with Colombia to be paralyzed," Chavez said in a speech before Congress. | But that's so very...unilateral! France is appalled. Quick, let's summons the United Nations to denounce Israel before things get out of hand. And call in the New York Times editorial board; Chavez acted without their advice and consent... |
| And who would know more about paralyzing business than Chavez? |
Chavez said the move includes freezing a July agreement to build a $200 million natural gas pipeline from Venezuela to Colombia's Pacific coast, which would allow Venezuelan fuel to be more easily shipped to the United States and Asia. Chavez's announcement came a day his government recalled Venezuela's ambassador to Colombia after that country acknowledged that it sent police and bribed local authorities to capture Rodrigo Granda, a leader in the rebel Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC. |