Colombia says Venezuela's Chavez helped in genocide

Tue Mar 4, 2008 11:10am EST
 
[-] Text [+]

(Corrects name to International Criminal Court, paragraph 2)

BOGOTA (Reuters) - Colombia said on Tuesday it will bring charges of supporting genocide against Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, alleging that he helped leftist rebels commit mass murders in Colombia.

"Colombia proposes in the International Criminal Court to denounce the president of Venezuela Hugo Chavez for sponsoring and financing genocide," Uribe told reporters.

Ecuador and Venezuela broke diplomatic ties with Colombia after its forces killed a rebel inside Ecuador in a raid that sparked troop deployments and warnings of war.

Colombian trade toward Venezuela has been halted at several points along the Andean nations' border, witnesses and a transportation association said on Tuesday.

(Reporting by Hugh Bronstein in Bogota and Brian Ellsworth in Caracas; Editing by John O'Callaghan)

 

Editor's Choice

A selection of our best photos from the past 24 hours.  Slideshow 

Most Popular on Reuters

  • Articles
  • Video
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad visits the Natanz nuclear enrichment facility, 350 km (217 miles) south of Tehran, April 8, 2008.  REUTERS/Presidential official website/Handout
Iranian enrichment has not grown: diplomats

Iran has effectively stopped expanding active uranium enrichment since September, diplomats said, while considering a big power offer to fuel a medical reactor if it turns over enriched material seen as an atomic bomb risk.  Full Article