The New York Times
Colombia Says Chavez Meddling, Protests to OAS
Aug 27--Colombia on Wednesday filed a formal complaint against Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez with the Organization of American States, accusing the leftist leader of meddling in its domestic affairs.
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Tensions are high between the Andean neighbors over a Colombian plan to allow the United States more access to its military bases. Chavez is a bitter foe of Washington, while Colombia's conservative President Alvaro Uribe is an ally.
The OAS complaint came after Chavez attacked Colombia as a "narco-state," ordered investigations of Colombian companies in Venezuela and urged his socialist party supporters to reach out to left-leaning Colombians and politicians.
Colombia's ambassador to the OAS, Luis Hoyos, denounced what his government saw as an "interventionist plan" by Chavez, a Cuba ally who promotes socialist revolution as the counterweight to U.S. influence in Latin America.
"This project violates the fundamental principles of relations between states," Hoyos said in an address to the OAS session in Washington.
Chavez said in a televised speech on Wednesday he would continue to speak out against the bases plan.
"We are obliged to use all our efforts to ensure our voice and our true ideas reach the Colombian people in the face of this barrage of lies," Chavez said.
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