CARACAS, March 24 (Xinhua) -- Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez Monday called on his Colombian counterpart Alvaro Uribe to keep the peace in the region and not to be guided by what he described as bellicose voices from the United States.

    "I am obliged to make these comments because it has cost us much. Uribe, protect yourself from the spokesmen of the imperial war," he said.

    Chavez said he was worried about Colombian Defense Minister Juan Manuel Santos' comments on Colombia's March 1 raid on Ecuadorian territory.

    Earlier in the day, Manuel Santos said that bases run by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) are a "legitimate military objective."

    On March 1, Colombian troops entered Ecuadorian territory to attack a FARC camp and killed over 20 guerillas, including a top rebel leader.

    As a result, Ecuador broke off diplomatic ties with Colombia and Venezuela, Colombia's northern neighbor, expelled Colombian diplomats in an expression of solidarity with Ecuador.

    Both of the two countries deployed troops at their borders with Colombia at the height of the crisis.

    On March 7, Ecuador, Venezuela and Colombia agreed to declare the border crisis over at the 20th Rio Group Summit in the Dominican Republic.