On July 28, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez ordered the withdrawal of Venezuela's ambassador and diplomatic staff in Colombia. His move was in response to the decision by the government of Colombian President Alvaro Uribe to allow five US military bases on Colombian territory.
The Colombian government, which has the worst human rights record in the region, has also increased its propaganda campaign against the Chavez government. Colombia has accused it of assisting the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), which has waged a four-decade long guerrilla war.
Venezuelanalysis.com said on July 28 that Venezuelan foreign minister described Colombian allegations of Venezuela providing the FARC with weapons as a "dirty campaign" to justify the presence of the US military.
On July 30, Venezuelanalysis.com quoted Chavez as saying that Venezuela would examine economic relations with Colombia, including the possibility of substituting Colombian imports with those from other countries.
Chavez said: "If the Colombian government thinks we're dependent on its imports, it's mistaken."
Chavez said if Colombia continued its verbal attacks on Venezuela, "We will end our relations, in every respect". He said this could include expropriating Colombian companies in Venezuela.
A July 21 Venezuelanalysis.com article said Chavez had ordered a review of relations on the grounds that opening Colombian territory to the US military represented a threat to Venezuela.
In 2002, the US backed a failed military coup against the democratically elected Chavez government and has funded often-violent opposition groups dedicated to bringing down Chavez and reversing his government's pro-poor policies.
Chavez said: "We very much regret the situation, but we have to review relations with the government of Colombia because they are opening the doors to those who attack us constantly, to those who are preparing new attacks and who have overthrown governments and are supporting the coup in Honduras — the State Department and the Southern Command."
The five new US bases in Colombia follows the closure of a US base in neighbouring Ecuador by the government of President Rafael Correa. The Correa government has joined the Venezuelan and Cuban initiated Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas (ALBA), an anti-imperialist trading bloc that seeks to challenge US corporate domination of the region with pro-people policies.
On July 24, Venezuelanlaysis.com said the Chavez government announced plans to strengthen its fleet of armoured vehicles and increase its military presence along its border with Colombia.
"You are opening your house to an enemy of your neighbour ... and the neighbour has the right to say that it is an unfriendly act", Chavez said.
Venezuelanalysis.com said Chavez told a group of Venezuelan military officers during a ceremony that the it was likely the US military build-up in Colombia would bring more "mercenaries, spy planes, the CIA and paramilitaries" to South America.
Chavez acknowledged that armed groups from Colombia, including the FARC, often crossed into Venezuelan territory. "I am not going to deny it, the Colombian guerrillas come and go, but it's not that we protect them, it's that the border is thousands of miles long."
Chavez repeated his offer to help in negotiating a peaceful solution to Colombia's civil war. Chavez has previously helped negotiate the release of FARC-held prisoners.
In early July, Colombian magazine Cambio said the centre of US military operations would be Palanquero, a base located between the departments of Caldas and Cundinamarca, which has the capacity for 60 aircraft.
Venezuelanalysis.com said the Colombian government justified the decision as part of combating drug trafficking. However, Colombian Liberal Party Senator Piedad Corboda said the government's "war on drugs" was a "total failure".
She said the agreement was a "threat to the region".
Corboda said most Colombians supported a negotiated political solution to the decades-long conflict with the FARC, not a military escalation that "jeopardises the safety of our neighbours", Venezuelanalysis.com reported.
Venezuelanaysis.com said Corboda described the agreements as "very shameful because we are left as some servants of the empire, doing errands, acting as scabs, handing over territory and losing dignity".
Chavez accused Colombia of acting as a US proxy and carrying out a dress rehersal for a US attack on Venezuela, Venezuelanalysis.com said.
Speaking at a ceremony to mark Bolivian Independence Day on July 16, Bolivian President Evo Morales said the US was seeking to install military bases throughout the region under the pretext of the "war on drugs", but it aimed to train local militaries to carry out coups like the one against Honduran President Manuel Zelaya on June 28.
Venezuelanalis.com reported that Morales said: "Those who accept [US bases] are traitors to the Homeland ... never again should [foreign] military bases exist in Latin America."