"A package of lies and manipulations with which to attack our country," Venezuelan Foreign Minister Nicolás Maduro said after diplomats from across the continent gathered in Ecuador on Thursday. Their inability to find common ground between Colombia, a close U.S. ally, and Chávez's socialist administration leaves relations between the two Andean neighbors in tatters in the waning days of Colombian President Álvaro Uribe's eight-year presidency. The challenge for incoming president Juan Manuel Santos, as he prepares for his Aug. 7 inauguration, is to repair Colombia's ties to a leader suspicious of its motivations and links to Washington while somehow prodding Venezuela to reverse what Colombian authorities consider wholehearted support for two rebel groups. Read more here. Semana International delivers news about Colombia in English. Find more in our home.