Colombia president hospitalized

Associated Press

BOGOTA, Colombia -- President Alvaro Uribe was hospitalized with a stomach infection Thursday, forcing the postponement of a fence-mending summit with Venezuela's president, officials said.

Uribe was taken to a hospital in the coastal city of Cartagena, his office said in a statement. It provided no other details. Earlier, the office said he had contracted food poisoning.

Uribe's trip to Caracas, set for Thursday, was put on hold until his medical team determines he's fit to travel, a statement from his office said.

Uribe was in Cartagena to attend the opening of a two-day international donors' conference.

The two leaders were expected to the summit to patch up the worst diplomatic dispute between the neighboring nations in years. The dispute was brought about by the recent capture inside Venezuela of a prominent Colombian rebel. Colombia has admitted paying bounty hunters to seize the rebel.

The two leaders were expected to discuss Chavez's concerns that the act violated Venezuela's sovereignty, as well as Uribe's concerns that the both nations should cooperate in denying refuge to "terrorists."

Chavez, a self-proclaimed "revolutionary" whose closest ally is Cuba's Fidel Castro, has said the dispute is "practically over" and should be resolved in the talks.

Officials on both sides have said they hope the meeting will bring relations back to normal.

The stakes in the talks are high. Trade between the two nations, which reached $1.7 billion last year, has slowed since Chavez suspended commercial agreements over the dispute, including the construction of a natural gas pipeline.