BOGOTA – Colombia delivered to the U.N. Security Council a protest note concerning the warlike “threats” made by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, the Foreign Ministry said Thursday.

Colombia’s permanent representative to the U.N., Claudia Blum, on Wednesday handed to the president of the Security Council, Austria’s Thomas Mayr-Harting, a diplomatic note “concerning the threats of Venezuela” regarding “the use of force against Colombia and other sensitive matters,” according to a communique.

“The Colombian government requested that the said note be made known to all the member states of the Security Council of the United Nations,” the Foreign Ministry said.

Chavez called Sunday on his country’s military and citizenry to “prepare yourselves for war,” warning that Venezuela could become the target of an attack from Colombia backed by the United States.

Relations between Colombia and Venezuela are going through a tense period because of the military pact signed recently between Bogota and Washington that allows U.S. troops to use Colombian military bases, something that Chavez considers a “threat” to Venezuela’s national security.

The Venezuelan government said Thursday that Colombia’s decision to submit a protest note to the U.N. was part of a “media” campaign, adding that Caracas does not want there to be a “war between brothers.”

Chavez’s statements “were not part of a war plan. A war plan is setting up military bases,” Communications Minister Blanca Eekhout said. EFE