BOGOTA, (Reuters) – Colombia’s diplomatic spat with Venezuela took a new turn this week with a series of billboards in Bogota showing pictures of Hugo Chavez, the leader of the neighbouring country, with his eyes closed.
“Hey!”, the billboards say, “Open your eyes!”
For years Colombia has asked the self-styled socialist revolutionary to do more to help combat Marxist Colombian guerrillas widely despised in the country for their violence and use of kidnapping.
But relations between the countries have only worsened.
Chavez accuses Colombian conservative President Alvaro Uribe and the United States of planning an invasion of Venezuela in a bid to take over the OPEC-member country’s vast oil reserves. Both countries dismiss the claim.
Colombian Senator Armando Benedetti, an Uribe loyalist, organized the publicity campaign to rally Colombians around their government as South American leaders gather for a summit in Argentina today.
Chavez and leftist Ecuadorean leader Rafael Correa have blasted Colombia for negotiating a plan with Washington to increase U.S. military cooperation as part of a long-standing alliance against cocaine traffickers and Marxist guerrillas.
Correa is also featured on some of the billboards. He broke diplomatic ties with Colombia last year after the Colombian military bombed a rebel camp on Ecuador’s side of the border.
