Venezuela and Colombia have agreed to set aside discussions on how to divide the Gulf of Venezuela during talks on border issues, Venezuela's foreign minister said Tuesday.
"Any discussion or issue ... regarding the demarcation of the territorial waters was totally excluded," Venezuelan Foreign Minister Ali Rodriguez told a press conference.
Formal talks between representatives from Caracas and Bogota regarding border issues began last week in the Colombian city of Cartagena. Last week, the defence ministers of Venezuela and Colombia agreed to discuss ways to cooperate in fighting terrorism and drug trafficking along the porous and troubled 2,200 kilometre border.
Violence stemming from Colombia's four-decade armed conflict among left-leaning rebels, government troops and outlawed right-wing paramilitary groups often spills over into neighbouring Venezuela.
On Monday, opposition lawmaker Julio Borges accused President Hugo Chavez of secretly negotiating an end to the dispute with Colombian authorities.
Borges accused Chavez of caving in to Colombian demands, saying he was involved in "a shady negotiation" involving Venezuela's claim to the gulf discussed "behind the nation's back".
Venezuela and Colombia have long disputed how to divide the Gulf of Venezuela, which covers roughly 20,000 square kilometres and extends from Venezuela and Colombia's northern shores into the Caribbean Sea.
