Politics
Colombia's President Álvaro Uribe requested on Monday his Venezuelan counterpart Hugo Chávez to coordinate measures to safeguard the lives of border residents and prevent further events such as the slaughter of 10 people by an illicit armed group.

Uribe made the appeal even though the two countries are going through a diplomatic crisis that has started to hit the bilateral trade of more than USD 7 billion a year, Reuters reported.

"I urge the government of Venezuela, its president, to go beyond any disagreement and look for some coordination of activities to protect the right to life of Colombian and Venezuelan citizens," Uribe said.

"A crime here or there also hurts us," said the Colombian president during a government event in the southwest department of Valle del Cauca.

Eight out of the 10 people found dead last weekend in Táchira state, western Venezuela, were Colombians.

Victims were members of a soccer amateur team kidnapped in October.