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Venezuelan Foreign Minister Says Colombia Threatens Peace in Latin America

CARACAS (Sputnik) - Peace in Latin America is threatened by Colombia and its cooperation with the United States, Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza said on Tuesday commenting on the Colombian Foreign Ministry's reaction to the Russian Federation Council's statement on Venezuela.
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"Even if there is some threat to peace in the region, it lays in the industry of Colombian drug traffic, in authorities that control this drug traffic in Colombia, in conflicts it generates, in presence of the most belligerent and interventionist country in Colombia and in Bogota’s cooperation with this country," Jorge Arreaza wrote in Twitter.

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The tweet appeared after the Colombian Foreign Ministry shared its reaction on the statement by the Federation Council of the Russian Federal Assembly on the situation in Venezuela, sent to Colombian authorities by the Russian embassy in the country. According to this statement published on March 27, the Federation Council condemns appeals to overthrow legitimate authority in Venezuela from abroad and will consider military intervention in this country to be an act of aggression against a sovereign state. Russian authorities also stressed that Moscow will keep on supporting Venezuela.

In response to this statement, Colombian Foreign Minister Carlos Holmes Trujillo said that it contained allegations that do not represent the real situation and distorted Colombia’s position. Bogota is certain that the transition to democracy in Venezuela should happen at the initiative of the Venezuelans themselves in a peaceful way within the framework of the constitution and international law, Trujillo stressed.

"The fact that they are denying their constant aggression against Venezuela is shameless," Arreaza tweeted in response.

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Colombia is among those states who stand against President Nicolas Maduro's government in Venezuela. It was across the Venezuelan-Colombian border that the United States tried to deliver humanitarian aid to Venezuela. However, Nicolas Maduro, who is in charge of the country's armed forces, refused to accept the aid.

Venezuela is currently going through a political crisis, which started in January when US-backed Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido declared himself interim president of Venezuela after disputing Maduro’s re-election victory in May of 2018.

The United States and dozens of other countries recognized Guaido as Venezuela’s interim president and called on Maduro to step down.

Maduro, who was sworn in for his second presidential term on January 10, called Guaido's move an attempt to stage a coup orchestrated by Washington.

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