President Nicolás Maduro rejected the accusations of an alleged presence of Colombian guerrilla dissidents in Venezuela, describing them as a move to avert the eyes from Colombia’s sanitary, political and social problems.
“They have been accusing the Bolivarian Revolution for 22 years. Iván Duque’s accusations against our Revolution and country are a rehash they don’t even believe in Colombia and the world,” stressed the Venezuelan president.
He explained that, in the 70 years of the Colombian armed conflict, the Colombian administrations have ceded the border territory to “paramilitary mafias, smugglers and drug traffickers.” In this regard, he said that Duque “has turned Colombia into a failed state with no control over its territory.”
Referring to the statements recently delivered by Iván Duque about Venezuela’s alleged protection of dissidents from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and the National Liberation Army (ELN), the Venezuelan president authorized the Bolivarian Armed Force (FANB) to get ready and counteract future actions from Colombia.
“I have told the Bolivarian Armed Force to strongly respond Iván Duque’s irresponsible statements about Venezuela, to respond with words and to clean our rifles to respond in the event he dares to violate the sovereignty of Venezuela,” he said at a press conference.
President Maduro pointed out Iván Duque is “obsessed” with Venezuela, and called for an independent investigation on “the involvement of military, police and intelligence agencies to invade Venezuela.”
Referring to the deployment of an elite commando to fight Colombian guerrilla members, who, according to the Colombian government, take shelter in Venezuela, President Maduro said that similar operations have already failed because “drug trafficking governs in Colombia.”
“How many special commandos have they assembled in all these years? Do you know why they have failed? Because drug trafficking governs in Colombia. Colombia is the haven and protection of the world’s drug trafficking mafias and elites,” said the Venezuelan president.