Venezuela complains about Colombia spying
Admin - Oct 26, 09
http://www.geopoliticalmonitor.com/venezuela-complains-about-colombia-spying-2903
CARACAS October 26, 2009 (Reuters) - Venezuela filed a complaint on Monday accusing Colombia's state security agency of spying in its territory in the latest salvo in a simmering diplomatic spat between the
Andean neighbors.Venezuela gave no details of how Bogota's security agency had been spying, but the accusation came after relations were further complicated by the murder of 10 members of an amateur Colombian football team across the Venezuelan border.
Ties soured earlier this year when Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez suspended relations with Bogota and reduced bilateral trade over Colombia's plan to allow U.S. troops more access to its military bases.
"Venezuela demands Colombia halt all activities of agents from the Department of Administrative Security or DAS inside Venezuela," the foreign ministry said in a statement, which charged the agency with engaging in "a conspiracy and a plan to destabilize" the country.
Bogota and Caracas often spar over Colombia's guerrilla conflict and cocaine trade spilling over the frontier, but their $7 billion in annual commerce is usually only temporarily disrupted.
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