Colombian Foreign Affairs Minister Fernando Araújo said that the "recent problems" between Venezuela and Colombia "have been overcome."  

His remarks came on the occasion of the meeting Friday between the presidents of Venezuela, Hugo Chávez, and Colombia, Álvaro Uribe in the city of Coro, northwest Venezuela.

"They are going to meet in order to show the international community that the relationship between the two countries has returned to the levels of cooperation, friendship and positive links that prevailed in the past," said Araújo to Efe in an interview made in Tokyo. 

The Colombian Foreign Affairs Minister arrived in Japan on Thursday in a three-day visit to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Colombian-Japanese diplomatic relations.

Chávez and Uribe are meeting on Friday at the Paraguaná Refining Compound, 500 kilometers west of Caracas, the Venezuelan capital, in order to mend the differences that caused a diplomatic crisis eight months ago.   

Chávez is meeting with Uribe after a conflict involving the rebel Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC) lead to the provisional withdrawal of ambassadors from each country, the mobilization of Venezuelan troops to the common border and the partial suspension of border trade.