CARACAS, Venezuela, Dec. 26 (UPI) -- Venezuela Tuesday denied meddling in the ongoing spat between Colombia and Ecuador regarding Colombia's anti-drug program along their common border.
Officials in Caracas said they wanted an explanation from their Colombian counterparts about recent claims that Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez had told Ecuadorian President-election Rafael Correa to cancel a scheduled visit to Bogota, the Spanish news agency EFE reported.
Earlier this month, Correa slammed Colombia's renewed drug-spraying program along the countries' shared border, calling it a "hostile act."
Correa said he agreed with the outgoing administration's condemnation of the spraying of illegal coca crops in the area.
Ecuador struggled last year with Colombia to stop the drug spraying near its territory, saying the chemicals used were toxic and affecting citizens living along the border.
Colombia -- the world's largest producer of cocaine and the recipient of billions of U.S. dollars in aid to help eradicate the crop -- resumed spraying the area this week, and contends that the spray it is using is not harmful to people.
