A CORRESPONDENT for Telesur, the TV channel promoted by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, was arrested over the weekend on terrorism charges on suspicion he was involved in rebel attacks, Colombian police said on Monday.
Freddy Munoz, a local reporter for the Caracas-based channel, was detained on Sunday by DAS, Colombia's state security police, at Bogota's El Dorado airport as he returned on a commercial flight from Venezuela.
Detectives had been investigating Mr Munoz for three years about his suspected involvement in attacks in Barranquilla and Cartagena in 2002 and he now faces terrorism and rebellion charges, a DAS statement said.
"He is being held at the DAS headquarters ... he was detained entering the country," spokesman Oscar Galvis said. He said officers were executing an outstanding arrest warrant for Mr Munoz from a prosecutor's office in Barranquilla city.
In a statement on Telesur's Web site, Mr Munoz denied the charges and said: "This is an accusation hundreds of journalists like myself have faced since U.S. unilateralism decided to brand as terrorists all who opposed them with reason and arguments."
Telesur defended the correspondent as a professional who had worked for the channel for more than a year and called his detention intimidation and a blow to press freedom.
Colombian President Alvaro Uribe, a key Washington ally, has led a U.S.-funded crackdown on the country's Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, Latin America's oldest rebel group, who say they are fighting for a Marxist state.
Washington brands the FARC a terrorist organization and says it has used Colombia's vast cocaine trade to finance its military operations. U.S. officials often say they believe Chavez has aided the rebels, a charge he says is propaganda.
Telesur was promoted by Chavez as an independent Latin American alternative to international networks such as CNN, and the Venezuelan leader has said the station is key to presenting his vision of regional integration.
Allied with Cuba, Chavez has clashed with Washington as he campaigns for Latin American neighbors to unite and counter what he calls U.S. imperialist influence in the region. U.S. officials call him a destabilizing force.
