"Secretary Pompeo, a CIA [US Central Intelligence Agency] specialist on false flag operations, thinks that he will fool the world with the truck that was set on fire in Colombia by his own agents… Pompeo and his hit men are desperately looking for a cause for war. Today, the operation failed. If you want to find those who burnt the truck with fake humanitarian aid, look for them among your own staff", Arreaza said via his official Twitter feed.
.@SecPompeo y sus sicarios están desesperados por fabricar un pretexto para la guerra. Hoy la operación le salió mal. Si quiere ubicar a quienes quemaron el camión con falsa ayuda humanitaria, que lo busque entre sus asalariados. #TrumpHandsOffVenezuela https://t.co/qS73BEyHDz
— Jorge Arreaza M (@jaarreaza) 24 февраля 2019 г.
Following the incident with the trucks, Colombian Foreign Minister Carlos Holmes Trujillo announced that President Ivan Duque Marquez had ordered the rest of the aid-filled vehicles that had departed for Venezuela, to return to the country.
On 23 February, the US-backed Venezuelan opposition tried to bring in trucks with foreign humanitarian aid to Venezuela from hubs in Colombia and Brazil, despite the legitimate government's refusal to allow the aid in. Upon arrival, several trucks were set on fire on the border with Colombia. Later in the day, Pompeo called the images of the burning trucks "sickening".
READ MORE: US Aid Deliveries to Venezuela Pursuing Political Goals — Foreign Minister
In order to prevent unauthorised deliveries of humanitarian aid, the president earlier in the week closed the land border with Brazil and the sea border with the Lesser Antilles, where aid was being collected as well, and temporarily shut several bridges connecting Venezuela with Colombia.
Russia, which, along with China and several other countries, has endorsed Maduro as the country's legitimate president, has warned that unauthorised deliveries of aid to Venezuela would be a provocation that could be used as a pretext for military action against the legitimate government.
