CARACAS, (Reuters) – Venezuela’s foreign minister  will attend the inauguration of Colombia’s incoming president,  Juan Manuel Santos, today, signalling a thaw between the  Andean neighbours after relations broke over leftist rebels.

The socialist Chavez severed ties last month and announced  he was sending troops to the border when the outgoing  government of President Alvaro Uribe, a close U.S. ally, said  Venezuela tolerated Marxist rebel camps on its territory.

The latest spat was widely seen as a parting tussle between  two ideologically opposed leaders who have long bickered over  guerrillas and a U.S. military presence in Colombia. So the  warmer words ahead of Santos’ swearing-in came as no surprise.

“We are very optimistic,” Chavez told reporters about  prospects for less antagonism with the new government.

Uribe leaves office after eight years as Colombia’s most  popular president in history for pushing the widely loathed  Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) rebels into  remote rural areas.

Relations between Chavez and Uribe soured after Colombia  bombed a guerrilla camp in Ecuador two years ago and bilateral  trade has withered since 2009, hurting both economies.

Though Chavez is not expected at today’s ceremony, he  has made clear he hopes for better ties with Santos, who is  under pressure from exporters to normalize business with the  nation’s main local market worth billions of dollars annually.

“It is very likely Nicolas will be there tomorrow at the  swearing-in,” Chavez said of his foreign minister, Nicolas  Maduro. He was speaking before a meeting with Brazilian  President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and former Argentine  President Nestor Kirchner.

Kirchner later said of Maduro: “Yes, he will go.”

Lula and Kirchner were visiting Chavez to negotiate an end  to the dispute between the two oil-producing nations before  heading to the inauguration in Colombia.

“I beg you to carry my greetings to the new president of  Colombia and thank you for always being concerned,” Chavez said  to Lula, a close ally.

Despite his plans to follow Uribe’s strategy of defeating  the Marxist guerrillas with force, Santos has vowed to  normalize relations with Venezuela. In the medium term, friction is likely because Colombia  believes Chavez shelters rebels, allowing cross border attacks  on its security forces. Chavez feels threatened by a deal to  allow U.S. troops more access to Colombia’s military bases.

In his last weeks in office, Uribe has been increasingly  outspoken in his criticism of Chavez, angrily accusing him of  tolerating top FARC commanders while making indirect criticisms  of Venezuela’s socialist economic and political model. Yesterday, his last day in power, Uribe’s vice president  reiterated his position that any improvement in relations must  come with serious moves by Caracas to deal with the alleged  guerrilla presence.

“Obviously we want better relations,” Vice President  Francisco Santos said. “We hope this is the beginning of a  solution, but a solution where the problems at the root of this  are resolved and not left on the sidelines.”

Last week, Chavez said he sent air defense units and troops  to the border with Colombia, claiming an attack was imminent.  Uribe said no attack was planned and accused Chavez of  deceiving his own people.

At the same time Chavez makes overtures to Santos,  relations with the United States have suffered.

On Friday, Chavez warned he could block Washington’s  nominee for ambassador in Caracas, Larry Palmer, who said the  government’s links to the FARC were more than clear and  criticized the armed forces.