Venezuela restores Colombia diplomatic ties

By Ana Isabel Martinez

CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuela will immediately restore diplomatic relations with Colombia, the government said on Sunday, after this week's resolution of a regional dispute that had raised fears of war.

A Colombian raid on a Marxist guerrilla camp in Ecuador last week sparked the region's worst diplomatic crisis in years, with Venezuela and Ecuador sending troops to their borders with Colombia, their U.S.-backed neighbor.

Leftist Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez cut ties with Colombia, but following a handshake at a regional summit on Friday, promised to quickly withdraw the 10 army battalions he had sent to the border and normalize relations.

Colombia's March 1 raid on a Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, rebel camp killed over 20 fighters including the rebel's second in command, Raul Reyes.

The attack came just days after the FARC released four lawmakers they had held hostage for years in a deal negotiated by Chavez who has good relations with the guerrillas.

The foreign ministry said on Sunday that Venezuela would send its diplomats back to Bogota immediately and was ready to receive Colombian diplomats "as soon as possible."

The Venezuelan government "decided to reestablish the normal functioning of its diplomatic relations with the government of the Republic of Colombia," the ministry said in a statement.

Despite the fact that all sides have de-escalated the conflict in recent days, relations remain fragile between Colombia's pro-Washington government and left-wing nationalists in Venezuela Ecuador and Bolivia.