Bogotá, August 26 (teleSUR-RHC)-- Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos spoke on Tuesday to the Advisory Commission on Foreign Relations, a presidential group of advisers and lawmakers, about the situation with neighboring Venezuela and the measures which his government will take.

“Its not the time to sound the trumpets of war,” said Santos, insisting that diplomacy will prevail in the talks with Venezuela.        

Santos, who gave a televised statement later, said his government is monitoring closely fuel price speculation in the border. He also called upon the citizens of Cucuta to report fuel shortages or speculation.       

The president further rejected accusations made by Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro against the former president and now Senator Alvaro Uribe Velez on Monday.

However, Santos also condemned the political use of the situation which some – without referring to specific parties or politicians – could be seeking. 

“Incendiary speeches only do that, they add fuel to fire. It's time for firemen to step in, not pyromaniacs,” he added. 

Santos' declarations come after Uribe, who is also head of the Democratic Center party, publicly accused Maduro of being a “dictator,” through his Twitter account.     

The former president and now senator visited the border with Venezuela on Monday to promote his party, while talking about deported Colombians. 

Elections will be held this year in both Venezuela in December and Colombia in October. 

Uribe, who governed Colombia from 2002 to 2010, launched the Orian military operation aimed at cracking down on leftist political movements that were perceived as a threat to the right-wing Colombian government. Thousands were forcibly disappeared, many at the hands of paramilitary groups.

Uribe has also been directly implicated in carrying out atrocities across the South American nation through operations carried out during his presidency known as “false positives,” a strategy where military forces would shoot civilians unrelated to armed groups in order to raise body counts.

The Colombian army in 2008, denounced Uribe, accusing him of carrying out these crimes as well as using other policies to promote violence in the country.

Santos' latest declarations also coincide with Uribe's recent rants against diplomacy. The senator has expressed through his Twitter account his disregard for resolving issues through diplomacy and has used this argument to attack President Santos.