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Colombia accuses Russia of 'foreign interference'

2022-02-04T20:25:33.771Z


Colombia has accused Russia of “foreign interference” on the border with Venezuela, claims dismissed Friday, February 4 by...


Colombia has accused Russia of "

foreign interference

" on the border with Venezuela, claims rejected on Friday February 4 by the Russian ambassador in Bogota.

Read alsoColombia: at least 66 murders in January in a region neighboring Venezuela

We know that some men and military units of the Bolivarian (Venezuelan) military forces have been mobilized towards the border (between Colombia and Venezuela) with the support and technical force of Russia

,” accused the Colombian Minister of Health on Thursday. Defense, Diego Molano.

Citing intelligence sources, Diego Molano denounced Russian "

foreign interference

" in this area, the scene since the beginning of January of a deadly rivalry between two armed groups, one of which, the National Liberation Army (ELN), would be supported by Caracas, according to the Colombian authorities.

Russia denies

In a statement released on Friday, the Russian Embassy in Colombia expressed its "

perplexity

" at these "

irresponsible

" claims.

She regretted the “

repeated attempts (by the Colombian government) to accuse the Russian Federation

” of “

alleged interference in the internal affairs of Colombia

”.

These are "

irresponsible statements by a member of the government cabinet

", added the Russian representation, castigating Minister Molano for "

his tireless quest (for fictitious enemies)

" and his statements "

without any verification

".

Read alsoAt least nine dead in Colombia in a raid against the Clan del Golfo cartel

Commenting on the affair in turn before the press on Friday, Colombian President Iván Duque judged that it was "

important that we continue to maintain the spirit of cooperation, of frankness and obviously to keep this at the level of the diplomatic dialogue which is appropriate

".

"

Without a doubt, I believe that we will have the opportunity to speak with the Russian diplomatic representation in Colombia to understand a little bit the military presence that is ensured in Venezuela, why the presence of some of the equipment that they have in this country is so important

", underlined Iván Duque.

Links to the Ukrainian crisis

According to analysts in Bogota, this possible Russian activism on the border is linked to the crisis in Ukraine, while Vladimir Putin has warned that he could send troops for exercises in the Caribbean or in Venezuela, and Moscow has pushed recently for negotiations between the ELN and the Colombian government.

The ELN, a Guevarist-inspired guerrilla, and dissidents from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) who reject the peace agreement signed in 2016 with this Marxist guerrilla have been fighting each other since the beginning of January for territorial control of the department of Arauca, separated from Venezuela by a single river.

Because of this proximity, Arauca is a zone of many traffics and contrabands, including an important route to export the drug produced in Colombia.

This violence between two guerrillas, essentially targeted assassinations, left nearly 70 dead in one month.

They are also taking place in neighboring Venezuela where, according to Bogota, the two groups have rear bases.

Accusations that the Chavista government of Nicolás Maduro, an ally of Moscow, regularly rejects.

Read alsoNo food insecurity in Colombia, says Bogota

Bogota, one of the United States' main allies on the continent, and Caracas severed diplomatic relations shortly after conservative President Iván Duque came to power in August 2018. In May 2021, when the country was the scene of an unprecedented movement of anti-government protests, Colombia had accused Russia of being linked to cyberattacks against official websites.

The Russian embassy had expressed its surprise at these "

totally unfounded

" accusations.

Source: lefigaro

All news articles on 2022-02-04

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