Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez says he’s cut off ties with Colombia as long as his counterpart Alvaro Uribe remains head of state. Relations soured last week when Uribe ended Chavez’s involvement in hostage talks with Colombian rebels. Uribe says Chavez ignored his demands that he not contact the Colombian military directly. On Wednesday, Chavez accused Uribe of “barefaced lies.”

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez: “That’s why I said to the world what I said to the world. While Uribe is the president of Colombia, I won’t have any kind of relationship with him or the country. I can’t. I can’t because of dignity.”

Chavez went on to criticize Uribe’s close ties to the US, calling him “a pawn of the empire.” Earlier in the day, Uribe appeared to address the dispute without mentioning Chavez by name.

Colombian President Alvaro Uribe: “Heads of state have to think not about their own grudges, not about their own vanities, but in the primary need of respecting the people who they represent.”

Venezuela has withdrawn its ambassador to Colombia.