The Legislative Branch of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela strongly rejects the recent attack in Venezuelan territory by irregular, criminal armed groups from Colombia against the population of La Victoria, Apure state, in violation of the sovereignty of our Republic and the peace of our people.
The actions of these criminal groups on the Colombian-Venezuelan border is the result of 70 years of a domestic armed conflict that the Colombian State has failed, or been unwilling, to solve peacefully, causing collateral damage to its neighboring countries.
Irregular armed groups, involved in illegal activities and linked to drug trafficking mafias, are part of a foreign conflict that the current Colombian Government irresponsibly approves and exports.
The Venezuelan democratic institutions will not allow the presence of Colombian criminal groups on our sacred soil.
It is worth remembering that, in the Governments of Commander Hugo Chávez and Nicolás Maduro, the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela participated as a mediator, at the explicit request of Colombia, in the peace agreements to pave the way for the stability of the neighboring country and the region.
Notwithstanding, under Iván Duque’s government, Colombia abandoned the path of peace and delegated its borders to mafia groups, which have turned them into criminal corridors and operation theaters to constantly attack Venezuela.
This Parliament is conducting investigations on the different actions that have been hatched against Venezuela in Colombian territory, including the foiled assassination attempt against President Nicolás Maduro and the mercenary incursion known as Operation Gideon. These operations were blatantly planned, organized and carried out in collusion with Iván Duque and the intervention of US government’s security agencies.
This attack, which included actions against civilian facilities and disturbed the peace of those Venezuelans living in that bordering zone, coincided with the creation of a so-called special forces, with which Venezuela was recently threatened.
In the face of these threats and the multifaceted attacks by the Colombian government in collusion with its drug trafficking, paramilitary allies operating freely in the neighboring country, the National Assembly of Venezuela strongly and fully supports the President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and Commander-in-Chief of the National Bolivarian Armed Forces, Nicolás Maduro; the Minister of People’s Power for Defense, General-in-Chief Vladimir Padrino López; the Chief of Staff of the Strategic Operational Command, Admiral Remigio Ceballos; and all the branches of our glorious and brave National Bolivarian Armed Forces, which, exercising the powers conferred by and in accordance with the Constitution, effectively protected our sovereignty and will not tolerate irregular armed groups operating in Venezuela.
We also reject the insolent statements of the Colombian Foreign Ministry and the Southern Command as they are following a script in an attempt to set up false flag operations, accuse Venezuela and avoid their responsibility for consenting to illegal activities on the border and the use of these irregular groups to attack our country.
This Parliament urges the Ministry of People’s Power for Foreign Affairs to undertake the necessary international actions to favor our territorial sovereignty and denounce the attacks against the country before Human Rights bodies.
Venezuela and its democratic Government, in the Bolivarian spirit of the Great Homeland, hope the Colombian people can follow the path towards their definite peace. We will persist in the defense of our rights and the fulfillment of the sacred duty to protect our territorial integrity and the life of our beloved people.
Caracas, March 25, 2021