CARACAS, Jan 14 (IPS) - Some analysts say Colombia ordered the kidnapping of guerrilla leader Rodrigo Granda in the Venezuelan capital last month to prove to the United States that it is cooperating in the anti-terrorism - crusade”, although the cost has been a serious rupture in Colombian-Venezuelan relations.
On Friday, leftist Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez announced a freeze on all cooperation with Colombia and the withdrawal of his country's ambassador from Bogotá. He said that he would discuss the case with other governments, and that the measures adopted would only be revoked if Colombia publicly apologises for the kidnapping.
Carlos Romero, an expert on Venezuelan-Colombian relations, told IPS, - The Colombian government had known for a long time that Granda was in Venezuela, and was aware of the kind of life he was leading. They didn't just happen to find him as the result of an investigation. They had his location pinpointed, and when they decided the time was right, they had him picked up.”
Granda was second in command in the so-called ôforeign ministry” of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), the country's main leftist rebel group. He was kidnapped in downtown Caracas last Dec. 13, with the support of members of the Venezuelan armed forces and police, and spirited across the border into Colombia, where he was turned over to the police. At the time of the kidnapping, the Colombian government repeatedly claimed that Granda had been captured in Colombian territory.
Now Colombian Vice President Francisco Santos and Defence Minister Jorge Uribe have admitted that their government paid informers and kidnappers to seize Granda in Caracas. The total payoff was around one and a half million dollars, according to Venezuelan investigations.
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http://www.ipsnews.net/africa/interna.asp?idnews=27047
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