Venezuela Reopens Embassy in Colombia

CARACAS, Venezuela — Venezuela said yesterday that it is reopening its embassy in Colombia and will allow back Colombian diplomats expelled last week by President Chavez in a crisis sparked by a cross-border Colombian attack on rebels in Ecuador.

The government cited an easing of tensions at a summit in the Dominican Republic on Friday, where President Chavez of Venezuela and President Correa of Ecuador shook hands with Colombia's Alvaro Uribe.

The Venezuelan Foreign Ministry said it "has decided to re-establish the normal functioning of its diplomatic relations with the government of the Republic of Colombia," citing what it called a "victory for peace and sovereignty." Mr. Chavez ordered the Venezuelan embassy in Bogota and sent troops to the border with Colombia after Colombia's March 1 strike in Ecuador that killed 25 people including a top leader of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, Raul Reyes.