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Chavez vows no ties with Colombia Chavez vows no ties with Colombia
(40 minutes later)
Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez says he will have "no type of relationship" with the Colombian government while it is headed by President Alvaro Uribe.Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez says he will have "no type of relationship" with the Colombian government while it is headed by President Alvaro Uribe.
"I could not, out of dignity," Mr Chavez told supporters in the town of Tachira in western Venezuela."I could not, out of dignity," Mr Chavez told supporters in the town of Tachira in western Venezuela.
Mr Chavez repeated accusations that Mr Uribe was a "barefaced liar" and accused him of being an American pawn. The Venezuelan government announced on Tuesday it was withdrawing its ambassador to Colombia.
The move is a further twist in a feud that erupted after Mr Uribe stopped Mr Chavez mediating with Colombian rebels. The feud between neighbours and trading partners began when Mr Uribe stopped Mr Chavez mediating with Colombian rebels.
In response, Mr Chavez said he would freeze Venezuela's bilateral ties with its neighbour and close trading partner.
'Barefaced lies'
Speaking to supporters on Wednesday, Mr Chavez was forthright in his criticism of his Colombian counterpart.
"While President Uribe is president of Colombia I will have no type of relationship with him or with the government in Colombia," he said.
Mr Uribe was a president "capable of such barefaced lies, [who] disrespects another president that he has called a friend, one that he called on for help".
Mr Chavez accused Mr Uribe - a close US ally - of being a "pawn of the empire".
Relations between the two men seemed close in August - despite their apparent ideological differences - when Mr Uribe enlisted Mr Chavez's help in trying to arrange an exchange of prisoners with rebel-held hostages.
But last week Mr Uribe ended Mr Chavez's involvement, saying it was because the Venezuelan leader had directly contacted Colombia's army chief despite being told not to do so.
Earlier, Mr Uribe appeared to try to calm the situation, saying presidents should put aside their "angers" and "vanities" to get on with their work.