The Venezuelan foreign minister responded to allegations made by her Colombian counterpart and called for dialogue. Foreign Minister Delcy Rodríguez responded Thursday to remarks made by her Colombian counterpart Maria Angela Holguin about the recent standoff over food and fuel smuggling at the border between the two countries. “Statements by Chancellor Holguin is a combination of erratic inaccuracies, falsehoods and confessions of the state supporting crimes at the border,” Rodriguez said in a tweet late Thursday. “It is unusual, to say the least, to be excused by subsidy policies implemented by Venezuela in terms of his people in avoiding the responsibility of Colombia in combating smuggling.” She also called on Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos to meet with his Venezuelan counterpart, Nicolas Maduro, to meet and diplomatically resolve the border issue. The tweet reads: “We invite you to not be afraid to dialogue and to a presidents meeting. It’s time for courage and for high diplomacy with legality.” The Venezuelan minister further stressed that there are responsibilities by the Colombian government that do not concern his government but yet affect Venezuela. “Colombia has left the border, which is governed by different order offenses and Colombian paramilitaries,” she added. Rodriguez said that those paramilitaries were a threat to Venezuela and allowing a smuggling activity that has significantly affected the economy of his country. This clearly demonstrated the unwillingness of the government and the Colombian state to resolve formal elements of assault on our economy.” She further said that there was a Colombian campaign to promote hatred against the government and the people of Venezuela. The minister spoke of Colombian economic, financial and media aggression against Venezuela. The foreign minister also warned her government would resort to international organizations to seek compensation for the over 5 million Colombians who arrived in Venezuela fleeing violence and war in their country. Source URL |
