Colombian pro-government candidate, Juan Manuel Santos, accused Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez of seeking to prevent his victory in the presidential elections, in order to take his Bolivarian revolution to Venezuela's neighboring country.

Santos is a former minister of President Álvaro Uribe's cabinet and one of the two favorites to win the elections -his closest rival is independent candidate Antanas Mockus. Santos said that if elected he would preserve security in Colombia, but he would focus the economy and social investment to reduce unemployment and poverty, Reuters reported.

Santos acknowledged that he has profound differences with the Bolivarian revolution led by Chávez in Venezuela.

When asked about the criticisms made by Chávez, who said that if Santos won the election it would be difficult to rebuild frozen bilateral ties, the former Defense Minister said that "such statements are intended to prevent my victory in Colombian elections, for several reasons."