On Wednesday Colombian President Alvaro Uribe accused Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez of crossing his bounds when the latter tried to mediate the release of hostages held by left-wing rebels. President Uribe called off the talks.

In August Venezuelan President Chavez received approval from Uribe to mediate the release of 45 high-profile hostages held by Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) for 500 FARC prisoners. Among the hostages there are three Americans contractors and French-Colombian politician Ingrid Betancourt.

The official statement said: “The president of the republic considers as terminated the facilitation of the Senator Piedad Cordoba and the mediation of President Hugo Chavez and thanks them for their assistance," AFP quotes.

Venezuelan President Chavez spoke with Colombia’s army chief, Mario Montoya, going against Uribe’s request on November 10 not to speak with anyone but him about the hostages.

“Today Senator Piedad Cordoba telephoned the army commander, General Mario Montoya, asking for a meeting and then passed the telephone to President Chavez, who asked questions about the hostages held by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia," said the statement issued by president' s office.

According to Pablo Casas, analyst at Bogota, this action is a drawback for any possible hostage exchange.

He said: "You cannot accept the president of another country requesting information directly from your top military commander. That is totally against protocol."

Uribe thinks that President Chavez is the only one that could obtain the release of the hostages mainly because he is respected by the rebels.

Uribe said on Wednesday: "I have always thought President Chavez is the only one in the world who the FARC will respect and be able to hand over the hostages to.”

The FARC are a cocaine-funded guerrilla army that holds dozens of hostages. Among them there are police officers, provincial governors and former members of Congress.

Bentacourt has been a hostage since 2002, when she was taken during her presidential campaign.

The three Americans Thomas Howes, Keith Stansell and Marc Gonsalves were detained in February 2003 after their plane crashed during an anti-drug mission.

President Chavez hoped that he would show French President Nicolas Sarkozy that Bentacourt was still alive when they met in Paris on Tuesday. Chavez didn’t have any proof to show Sarkozy that she was alive, but he is sure that she is still living.