The Foreign Minister of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela Félix Plasencia rejected the accusations made by Colombia’s President Iván Duque of Venezuela’s alleged links with an attack on Saturday morning in Arauca department.
«It is from Colombia, the factory of mercenaries, that the region and other latitudes are destroyed. It is in Colombia, the cradle of violence, from where its peoples are threatened,» stressed the Venezuelan foreign minister on his Twitter account @PlasenciaFelix.
Likewise, Plasencia denounced Venezuela is being used to divert attention from those who deny peace to the Colombian people. «It is irresponsible and it shows the greatest of cynicism.»
The Venezuelan foreign minister also recalled that over 10 million Colombians have been displaced by their country’s internal war, which dates back to over 70 years and affects the Latin American region.
«In Colombia, they planned the assassinations against Presidents Maduro and Moïse. From Colombia, the population of La Victoria, in Apure, was attacked, and mercenaries were trained for Operation Gedeon,» added Plasencia in reference to the multiple attacks launched from Colombian soil against Venezuela in the last years, being the assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse by a group of Colombian mercenaries the most recent one.
For his part, the Minister of People’s Power for Defense, Vladmir Padrino López, said the accusation by the Colombian Government has to do with their failed attempt to torpedo the talks between the Venezuelan Government and opposition sectors in Mexico.
«They are growing anxious as the agreement signed by the opposition and government in Mexico to face together the Essequibo issue is a sign of strength that dispels their intentions to violate our sovereignty,» stressed Padrino López.