Colombia says Venezuela imposes Cuba-like embargo

Deported miners' case stokes diplomatic tensions (Recasts with Uribe; changes byline, dateline, pvs CARACAS)

By Patrick Markey

BOGOTA, Dec 2 (Reuters) - Colombian President Alvaro Uribe accused Venezuela on Wednesday of imposing an illegal trade blockade similar to the U.S. embargo on Cuba after his Andean neighbor said Colombia was engaged in "psychological war."

The criticism was Uribe's strongest yet since Venezuela and Colombia began sparring several months ago in a dispute that has damaged their $7 billion a year in bilateral trade and heightened fears of a violent clash along their frontier.

Chavez, a fierce U.S. critic allied with Cuba, has ordered Colombian imports cut as his government protests Uribe's plan to allow U.S. troops more access to bases for joint initiatives against cocaine lords and leftist rebels.

OPEC-member Venezuela relies heavily on Colombian food products, but Chavez is seeking alternative imports from Brazil and Argentina.

"In Venezuela, there is an embargo against the Colombian economy. It is an illegal, unjust embargo," Uribe told local radio. "People criticize the embargo against Cuba, well now there is a Venezuelan blockade against Colombia."

Uribe said other nations were taking advantage of the crisis to replace Colombian market share. Exports to Venezuela fell 56 percent in October compared with a year earlier.

The latest exchange to test ties between the feuding South American nations came when Colombia said this week that Venezuelan troops had deported more than 400 illegal Colombian and Brazilian miners from makeshift gold camps.

ENVIRONMENTAL DAMAGE

Colombia called it a violation of rights. But Venezuelan Vice President Ramon Carrizalez said on Wednesday the miners were damaging the Yapacana national park of Amazonas state.

Illegal gold mining is common in Venezuela and Colombia, where miners use water jets and mercury to filter gold, leaving behind deforested areas and polluted waterways and rivers.

"It is senseless that a routine activity in this country like the expulsion of illegal miners, people who are destroying the environment, be used as part of a media and psychological war, intimidation and threat to our nation," Carrizalez said.

The two nations' dispute centers around a decision by Colombia to allow U.S. troops more access to military bases. Uribe says the deal is an extension of U.S. aid to help end his country's long guerrilla war and fight the cocaine business.

That, says Chavez, sets the stage for potential U.S. aggression against socialist-run Venezuela from Colombia, one of the firmest Washington allies in the region.

There have been a series of mysterious killings on the border -- where Colombian rebels and paramilitaries, plus drug-trafficking and smuggling bands operate -- and accusations of spying. Chavez has told his army to prepare for conflict.

Few expect a major war, but fears of violence are growing.

"The risk of a military clash between Colombia and Venezuela has risen in recent weeks from low to moderate, and is increasing," Jane's Intelligence Weekly said recently.

"A small incident, most likely on the border, could yet spark wider conflict, with Colombia now considering counter measures to address Venezuela's military superiority. International mediation would nevertheless be likely to forestall any descent towards all-out war." (Additional reporting by Andrew Cawthorne in Caracas) ((For factbox on tensions see [ID:nN023254])) ((andrew.cawthorne@thomsonreuters.com; +58 212 277 2700; Reuters Messaging: andrew.cawthorne.reuters.com@reuters.net))

Source: reuters.com/