It was all smiles and friendly talk of brotherhood and shared destiny at the presidential palace in Caracas yesterday, as the leaders of Colombia and Venezuela met to reaffirm their commitment to fully restore diplomatic ties and put recent bitter disputes behind them.
The two neighboring Andean nations began work to restore broken relations shortly after Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos took office in August.
"We are determined that no one or anything will derail us," said Santos during his second meeting with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez since August. "We've gone from good-intentioned statements to concrete accords," he added.