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Venezuela, Colombia Recall Envoys Amid Border Tensions

© AP Photo / Eliecer MantillaPeople carry their household belongings across the Tachira River from Venezuela, foreground, to Colombia, near San Antonio del Tachira, Venezuela, Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2015, during a mass exodus of Colombians living on the Venezuelan side of the border
People carry their household belongings across the Tachira River from Venezuela, foreground, to Colombia, near San Antonio del Tachira, Venezuela, Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2015, during a mass exodus of Colombians living on the Venezuelan side of the border - Sputnik International
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Colombia and Venezuela have withdrawn their respective ambassadors over an impasse caused by border tensions, Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos and Venezuelan Foreign Minister Delcy Rodriguez have confirmed.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Violence has rocked the Venezuelan-Colombian border amid crackdowns on migrants and smugglers over the past two weeks. An attack on a Colombian border patrol unit prompted Bogota to shut its side of the border last week.

"The President of the Republic on Thursday ordered the Foreign Ministry to recall the Ambassador of Colombia in Venezuela, Ricardo Lozano, for consultations," a statement published on Santos’ website reads.

Venezuela's top diplomat made a similar statement on her Twitter account.

"Following instructions from [Venezuelan] President Nicolas Maduro, we called our ambassador in the Republic of Colombia, Ivan Rincon," Rodriguez posted on her microblog, late on Thursday.

Colombia's President Juan Manuel Santos delivers his speech as he visits the Colombian pavilion at the 2015 Expo in Rho, near Milan, Italy, Friday, June 12, 2015. - Sputnik International
Colombia's Santos Urges Venezuela to Reopen Border Between Countries
The announcement came 24 hours after Rodriguez and her Colombian counterpart, Foreign Minister Maria Angela Holguin held talks in an effort to ease the border tensions.

In his statement, Colombia’s Santos instructed Holguin to convene an extraordinary meeting of the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) "to address the issue of abuses that have been committed against Colombians deported from Venezuela."

Maduro was quoted by the teleSUR network as saying that the Colombian leader’s allegations were false.

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