Right-wing officials in Colombia form the last pro-US government in Latin America since the re-emergence of  progressive movements across South America and Caribbean.

July 17, 2010 (Hamsayeh.Net) - Relationship between progressive Venezuela and its US-backed neighbor, Colombia, turned sour after Colombian government officials accused Caracas of providing a safe haven to FARC guerillas inside Venezuela.

Outraged by such an allegation the Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez immediately recalled the country’s ambassador to Bogota in protest. Energy resource poor Colombia - a US ally - has been at loggerheads with its much richer oil and gas neighbors particularly Venezuela for the past several years.

In return for providing Washington with military and political presences in Latin America, the Uribe government in Colombia receives billions of dollars in cash every year. Hugo Chavez has repeatedly charged Colombian officials of assisting and promoting the burgeoning drug trade, which has been going on for more than three decades.

Naming the outgoing Colombian President Alvaro Uribe a Mafioso, Hugo Chavez told reporters, ‘We're not going to be provoked and would give the future government in Colombia under Santos a chance to keep his promise to improve Colombia's relations with Venezuela.’ Chavez promised to quickly break diplomatic ties with Colombia if Bogota decides to continue on with this ‘craziness’. ‘If they keep up this craziness, in the next few hours I will break relations with Colombia and this will make it much harder to restore ties with the new government.’

Right-wing officials in Colombia form the last pro-US government in Latin America since the re-emergence of nationalistic and progressive movements across South America and Caribbean. Currently, a vast majority of Latin Americans despise US meddling in the region and have taken measures to counter Washington’s interferences.

The new Colombian President, Jose Manuel Santos, who is also a pro-US businessman, has been elected to run the government starting next month.

Earlier, an Ecuadorian high court accused Jose Manuel Santos of his direct involvement in killing innocent civilians across the border in Ecuador when Santos served in Colombia’s military. The Ecuadorian court issued an arrest warrant for Santos in case he ever enters Ecuador.