Nov. 4 (Bloomberg) -- Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez ordered an increase in troops along the Colombia-Venezuela border as three crossings reopened following two days’ closure.

The crossings into Venezuela’s Tachira state reopened today, said Colombian regional customs director Edgar Alvarado in a phone interview from the northeastern border city of Cucuta. The entry points, which Alvarado said were closed on Nov. 2, were the entryway for $4.8 billion of Colombia’s $6.1 billion in exports to Venezuela last year.

Diplomatic relations and trade between the South American neighbors deteriorated this year after Colombian President Alvaro Uribe said a leftist guerrilla group had obtained weapons originally sold to Venezuela, and Venezuela criticized Colombia’s plan to let the U.S. military use seven of its military bases. Chavez pledged to end imports from Colombia.

“We’re taking all the necessary measures, the increase of units along the border area,” Chavez said late last night on state television. Venezuelan Vice President Ramon Carrizalez said yesterday that the border crossings were never closed.

Colombian exports to Venezuela, its second-biggest trading partner, fell 50 percent in September from the same month in 2008, Colombia’s statistics agency said last week.

Tensions also increased after a group of 11 soccer players, including nine Colombians, was found killed in Tachira last month. Colombian officials have called for the public release of results of the investigation. Venezuelan officials say the men may have belonged to right-wing groups operating in the area.

This month, two Venezuelan national guardsmen were shot and killed while patrolling near a border post. Authorities arrested one man and identified three others in the attack.

Public Order

Colombian Foreign Minister Jaime Bermudez said in a statement today that public order in Venezuela is “critical” for Colombian citizens who cross the border and that accusations of the soccer players’ links to paramilitaries don’t justify the slayings.

Colombia and the U.S. signed an accord Oct. 30 to allow U.S. troops access to bases for anti-drug operations. Chavez says the deal allows the Pentagon to make final decisions and is a threat to Venezuela.

“The Yankees use that as an excuse, they practically took over Colombia, which today isn’t a sovereign nation,” he said. “They converted Colombia, with this deal especially, into a kind of colony.”

Venezuelan Interior and Justice Minister Tarek El-Aissami on Oct. 29 presented documents to the National Assembly that he said were from Colombia’s intelligence agency, known as DAS, which showed that Colombian agents spy in Venezuela. Venezuela arrested three individuals last week they said were DAS agents and has held a Colombian on spying charges since September.

To contact the reporters on this story: Alexander Cuadros in Bogota at acuadros@bloomberg.net; Daniel Cancel in Caracas at dcancel@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: November 4, 2009 14:10 EST