'No doubt' Colombia's fight against rebels would be easier without Maduro -foreign minister

Record ID: 1429449

  • Title: 'No doubt' Colombia's fight against rebels would be easier without Maduro -foreign minister
  • Date: 31st August 2019
  • Summary: BOGOTA, COLOMBIA (AUGUST 30, 2019) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) COLOMBIAN FOREIGN MINISTER, CARLOS HOLMES TRUJILLO, SAYING: "The end of this dictatorship, of this tyranny, would be the best for Venezuela, the best for Colombia, the best for the region, the best for the international community, and the best for global democracies. The Maduro regime is not only generating very negative effects in the bilateral relationship with Colombia, but it has also turned into a true threat to the peace, tranquility and stability of the region."
  • Embargoed: 14th September 2019 16:01
  • Keywords: FARC Carlos Holmes Trujillo rebels Venezuela Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia foreign minister Nicolas Maduro peace accord former ELN Colombia
  • Location: UNIDENTIFIED JUNGLE LOCATION, BOGOTA, MITU, GUAYABETAL, SAN VICENTE DEL CAGUAN, COLOMBIA / UNIDENTIFIED LOCATION / CARACAS, VENEZUELA
  • City: UNIDENTIFIED JUNGLE LOCATION, BOGOTA, MITU, GUAYABETAL, SAN VICENTE DEL CAGUAN, COLOMBIA / UNIDENTIFIED LOCATION / CARACAS, VENEZUELA
  • Country: Colombia
  • Topics: Government/Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA004AUJTT8N
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: There is "no doubt" it would be easier to combat Colombia's rebel groups if Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro were no longer in power, Colombia's foreign minister said, amid accusations that Caracas is providing the groups with shelter.
    On Thursday (August 29), former leaders from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) announced a new offensive in a video believed to have been filmed in Venezuela.
    Ex-FARC commanders Ivan Marquez and Jesus Santrich appeared surrounded by armed fighters in a YouTube video, saying a 2016 peace accord had been betrayed.
    The announcement was condemned by President Ivan Duque's government, the United Nations and the FARC political party, whose leadership said the majority of ex-rebels remain committed to peace despite "difficulties and dangers."
    Combating the dissidents, who are estimated to number more than 2,200, and separate rebel group the National Liberation Army (ELN) would be easier were Maduro no longer in power, Foreign Minister Carlos Holmes Trujillo said in an interview late on Friday (August 30).
    "This regime protects them: it has opened its doors to them. This regime facilitates their actions from its territory," said Trujillo.
    The United States also believes the Maduro government is providing shelter to dissident FARC and ELN groups, a senior State Department official said.
    Venezuela's foreign ministry on Friday blamed the dissident rearmament on Duque's failure to follow through on the peace accords.
    Maduro later tweeted his government was committed to promoting peace in Colombia and would advance efforts to reestablish conversations between the two sides.
    Neither mentioned the issue of rebel presence in Venezuelan territory.
    Trujillo said the neighboring Venezuelan government was a "dictatorship."
    "The end of this dictatorship, of this tyranny, would be the best for Venezuela, the best for Colombia, the best for the region," Trujillo said.
    Colombia will seek Interpol red notices for anyone involved with dissident groups who may be based in Venezuela, Trujillo said.
    "The ELN is there, commanders of the ELN, and those commanders are going to work in coordination with this narco-terrorist group that was announced yesterday (August 29)," he said.
    (Production: Javier Andres Rojas)
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