CARACAS, Venezuela, Jan. 14 (UPI) -- Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez severed relations with Colombia Friday over an incident involving the abduction of a Colombia rebel in Venezuela.
Chavez said both diplomatic and trade relations would be terminated until Colombia apologized for the infraction.
On Thursday Venezuelan recalled its ambassador from the Colombian capital Bogota, Globovision televsion reported Friday.
Colombia admitted earlier this week it used bounty hunters to nab a wanted leftist rebel but wouldn´t say who nabbed him or how much they paid. Later, a Venezuelan official came forward and said Venezuelan police paid by Colombia picked up Rodrigo Granda in the capital.
Previously, Colombian President Alvaro Uribe said Grande was arrested along the Venezuelan-Colombian border on the Colombian side.
Granda is known as the "foreign minister" for the leftist Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia -- FARC. The group has waged a 40-year civil war with the Colombian government.
The neighboring nations have been at odds in recent years and the latest incident could worsen the already strained relations.
Last year, gunmen killed several Venezuelan soldiers and an engineer near the Colombian border. Venezuela blamed leftist rebels for the killing, an allegation Colombia denied.
