Venezuela warned the UN on Monday that the US and Colombia are poised to invade its territory under the pretext of crushing alleged rebel bases.
Venezuela’s UN ambassador Jorge Valero Briceno held talks with UN secretary-general Ban Ki Moon in New York and handed him a letter outlining the alleged threat and explaining why his country has broken off diplomatic ties with Bogota.
The letter condemns the “aggressive plan against the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Venezuela” reportedly cooked up by “outgoing Colombian President Alvaro Uribe and Washington.
“The government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela considers that in this moment there is a probability, as it never existed in the last 100 years, of foreign military aggression against Venezuela, from Colombia, with the support of the government of the United States,” the letter states.
Mr Briceno said this plan shows “the great risk represented by the growing and dangerous presence of US military forces on Colombian soil and the reactivation of the US Fourth Fleet in the Caribbean Sea and central and south America.”
He said the “growing military presence of the United States, with the support and the complicity of the current government of Colombia, is directed against the progressive movements of the region and represents a great threat to the peace and security of the continent.”
The letter advises Colombia to resume peace talks with armed opposition groups who have been fighting the government and right-wing death squads since the 1960s.
Mr Uribe, who steps down in August, claimed this month that leaders of the Farc and ELN had taken refuge in Venezuela.
His government went before the Organisation of American States last week and claimed that the guerilla groups were launching attacks on Colombia from havens in Venezuela.
Speaking in Cuba, Venezuelan Electricity Minister Ali Rodriguez described Bogota’s accusations as a “foul, vulgar and offensive pretext to attack Venezuela and attack the liberation processes in our continent.”
On Sunday, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez revealed evidence that Washington and Bogota have prepared a military attack against Venezuela, including his assassination.
On the same day, Caracas deployed about 1,000 National Guard soldiers to the border.
The US State Department has denied that Washington has any intention of attacking Venezuela.
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