By Fabian Andres Cambero
PUNTO FIJO, Venezuela (Reuters) - Venezuelan President HugoChavez and Colombian President Alvaro Uribe said they repairedties at a summit on Friday that showcased their renewedpersonal cooperation after months of bickering.
For much of the year, the socialist Chavez and his pro-U.S.conservative counterpart have exchanged charges that eachdestabilized their nations, but on Friday they sharedhandshakes and pledges to boost $6 billion (3 billion pounds)in annual trade.
Still, political analysts cautioned the make-up session --the third such meeting -- would not likely stop the ideologicalopposites reigniting disputes when domestic politics demands.
"We decided to completely turn the page. The storm haspassed," Chavez told reporters after hosting a two-hour,one-on-one meeting with Uribe where they aired their grievancesbut also planned joint rail and natural gas projects.
"We will relaunch our ties, starting on a personal leveland then moving on to political, social and economicrelations."
Uribe added, "When the human touch prevails ... it is easyenough to put problems behind you."
The stout Chavez wore his signature revolutionary redshirt. The short, bespectacled Uribe a blue one.
Whether or not they heard appeals for them to hug in frontof the cameras to express their warmer relations, they did not.
In March, hostility erupted when Colombia bombed insideVenezuelan ally Ecuador to kill a rebel leader, promptingChavez to send tanks to the border and call Uribe a "liar,"while Uribe said his neighbor backed genocide.
But Uribe, who has record approval ratings at home afterlast week's rescue of high-profile rebel-held hostages, usedFriday's session as part of a drive for regional healing afterthe raid into Ecuador.
Chavez, too, helped polish his image with the summit as hedistances himself from Colombian Marxist rebels, following hispublic support for the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombiaearlier in the year, which was generally unpopular at home andabroad.
FRIEND OR FOE
The two have held similar meetings to defuse tensions thathave flared over the years, especially over their policies onColombia's leftist rebels.
Uribe and Chavez in 2003 and 2005 also held presidentialsummits promising to end "microphone diplomacy" and "turn thepage" after volleys of insults, only to return to diplomaticspats and name-calling in the following years.
Still, despite ideological differences and sometimescompeting geopolitical interests, the two men can get along.
They have been dubbed South America's political odd coupleand have often displayed a surprising personal rapport.
On Friday, Chavez said he had been "very hurt personally"last year when Uribe abruptly ended his role as mediator withColombian rebels. His visitor responded by apologizing publiclyfor not even calling Chavez to explain his decision.
They also laughed about how Uribe does a convincingimpersonation of the bombastic Chavez. They recounted how theColombian mimicked the moment when his counterpart gave him apainting of Simon Bolivar -- the 18th-century Venezuelan leaderwho ejected Spain from Latin America -- brandishing a sword.
"Your sword is always drawn," Chavez joked to Uribe.
(Additional reporting by Enrique Andres Pretel, Saul Hudsonand Brian Ellsworth in Caracas; Editing by Saul Hudson and EricBeech)
