Authors:
Luis Alberto López Rafaschieri and José Alberto López Rafaschieri
www.morochos.net
In the past, Chavez's attitude toward Colombia was characterized by being very problematic. We can recall, for example, that the Venezuelan president called the world to grant the FARC belligerent status, then tried to give political recognition to Colombian rebels, insulted President Uribe in every possible way, broke relations with Colombia on several occasions, withdrew the Venezuelan ambassador from Bogota and expelled the Colombian ambassador in Caracas, closed the borders with Colombia, hampered bilateral trade, and even threatened to attack Colombian on different occasions.
However, all this disharmony with Colombia coincidentally happened when Venezuelan oil was being sold at the highest prices in history and Chavez had plenty of money. But now that the days of crude above $100 a barrel are gone, President Chavez was forced to rethink his relations with Colombians.
And it is not for less, Colombia is the second most important supplier of Venezuela -especially of food- bilateral trade benefits both countries and there are important joint energy projects -such as the Transoceanic and Transandino pipelines- that not only would facilitate oil transport but also would reduce Venezuela's dependence on the U.S. market.
So, due to the economic problems that Venezuela now faces, Colombia's contribution acquires another meaning. Unfortunately, every time that Chavez wants a good relation with a foreign country always sacrifice Venezuela -we say this for the border issue- And the worst is that the Venezuelan diplomatic relations are subject to Hugo Chavez's volatile temper, hence no one knows what stability have the agreements signed by Venezuela's current president.
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