Venezuelan Foreign Minister Nicolás Maduro calls on the Colombian government to "reflect" on its relationship with Venezuela

Caracas Daily Journal (Vincent Bevins): Venezuelan Foreign Minister Nicolás Maduro called on the Colombian government to "reflect" on both its relationship with Venezuela and its position on a humanitarian exchange as a result of the successful hostage liberation.

"We hope that the Colombian government reflects upon the immense errors it has committed in its political conduct towards the people of Venezuela, towards the government of Venezuela."

In this vein he is probably referring to the cancellation of negotiations by President Alvaro Uribe, and diplomatic spats which included accusing Chávez of somehow working with the rebels and drug traffickers.

The successful release of four hostages held by the FARC, negotiated by President Chávez and Colombian Senator Piedad Córdoba, could be an important step to an improvement in relations between the two countries, which hit significant lows at the beginning of the year.

The Colombian government chose to allow the release yesterday, and expressed gratitude for the gestures of Chávez and Córdoba. And Colombian Foreign Chanceller Fernándo Araujo has made several statements recently indicating he wants relations to improve. In a serious stepback from claims that Colombia was organizing military actions with the U.S. against Venezuela, Maduro made some similar claims on Wednesday.

"We have the best relations with the government of Colombia, with the distinct political sectors," he said. However, he also called said that the government of Venezuela will continue pushing for a humanitarian accord between Colombia and the FARC. Yesterday the FARC issued a communiqué saying that their release showed the power of "humanity" over "intransigence," and called on the Colombian government to open a demilitarized zone for negotiations, a request that the Colombian government has repeatedly denied.

"Today there is an immense desire in the whole world to accompany Colombia in the search for a humanitarian exchange."

The FARC still holds many hostages, and has made clear that they want their officers back in exchange. Uribe, however, insists the rebels are "terrorists" and has eschewed negotiations in favor of military actions.

Despite the verbal squabbling between the two countries, they remain very important trading partners. A lot of the trouble was set off by U.S. ambassador to Colombia, William Brownfield, who made allegations of Venezuela's role in the cocaine trade. He recently apologized for causing such a "delicate" situation for his host country. He neglected to actually apologize for the accusations.

The relatives remain in Caracas with the newly freed hostages.