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Venezuelan Minister: 'Opposition Was Planning to Kill People on the Border'

© AFP 2023 / Cristian HERNANDEZSupporters of Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido take part in a march in Caracas, on February 23, 2019
Supporters of Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido take part in a march in Caracas, on February 23, 2019 - Sputnik International
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The Venezuelan opposition, led by self-proclaimed interim president Juan Guaido, attempted to force US-sponsored humanitarian aid into the country, including through Colombia, where an aid collection centre is located. Maduro has refused to allow in such aid, calling it a "fake show" and a ploy to oust him from power.

Venezuela’s Minister of Popular Power for Communication and Information, Jorge Rodriguez, has claimed that the opposition was planning to kill people crossing the Simon Bolivar Bridge in the western state of Tachira after receiving humanitarian aid across the border between Venezuela and Colombia.

“The first false-positive [fabricated] operation planned the theft of a tank by two terrorists. It was planned to use that stolen military vehicle to cross the Simon Bolivar Bridge, hitting all pedestrians along the way and trampling them to death, and then blaming the National Guard and the government of Nicolas Maduro”, the minister said at a press conference in Caracas.

READ MORE: WATCH Molotov Cocktails Thrown at US Aid Truck on Venezuelan Border

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Rodriguez said that the government knew about the opposition’s alleged plans, so the day before President Maduro ordered the closure of the bridges bordering Colombia.

“Fortunately, President Nicolas Maduro decided to close the bridges. Perhaps people are still alive because President Maduro closed the Simon Bolivar Bridge”, he noted.

The Venezuelan minister also said that the trucks had been burned by the same opposition supporters and that the legitimate government was also confident that those trucks did not contain any humanitarian aid.

“There are signs that there was nothing in these trucks and that the main purpose was to burn them”, he said.

READ MORE: US Promises More Sanctions to Venezuela, More Humanitarian Aid

Rodriguez also confirmed that the humanitarian aid is part of a plan to seize Venezuela. “Everything is clear with the policies of Juan Guaido [the self-proclaimed president], all this humanitarian aid is just an act of aggression against Venezuela”, he said.

People ride atop and alongside semi-trailers accompanying U.S. humanitarian aid destined for Venezuela, in Cucuta, Colombia, Saturday, Feb. 23, 2019 . - Sputnik International
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The Venezuelan opposition had previously alleged that food and medicine supplies donated by the United States and other countries would flow across the border, while Maduro dubbed them “handouts” that are aimed “to justify intervening in the country’s affairs”.

On 23 February, during the delivery of humanitarian aid, violent situations were recorded on the Francisco de Paula Santander and Simon Bolivar bridges on the border with Colombia. As a result, some trucks from Colombia were burned, and hundreds of people were injured in clashes in the border area.

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