Uribe Promises To Probe
Alleged Intrusion Into
Venezuela
Colombia will launch
investigations on the
alleged intrusion of its
troops into the
Venezuelan territory and
will make an apology if
the accusation is
confirmed, Colombian
President Alvaro Uribe
said Saturday.
Uribe made the statement
after the Venezuelan
government accused 60
Colombian troops of
illegally entering the
Venezuelan territory and
called "the incursion" a
provocation by the
Colombian government
seeking to destabilize
the region.
"I just learned about
the Venezuelan
government's protest. We
will ask the defense
minister and high
command to carefully
examine it," he told a
news conference.
Colombia will take
Venezuela's protest
seriously, Uribe said,
adding that the
investigation will soon
be launched by the
Colombian Defense
Ministry.
Colombia will make an
apology if the intrusion
is confirmed, Uribe
said. If not, the
country will also make
an explanation on the
issue.
Uribe stressed that
Colombia has not been
and will never be a
belligerent country, and
is not willing to see
any break of the two
neighboring countries'
friendship by Colombian
government's operation
to fight anti-government
forces.
Colombia hopes to
maintain good relations
with all the countries
in the region, Uribe
added.
According to a
Venezuelan statement,
some 60 Colombian
soldiers on Friday
entered without
permission Venezuela's
western Apure state,
about 800 meters from
the two countries'
border.
The alleged incursion
came a day after
Venezuelan President
Hugo Chavez vowed to
review diplomatic and
trade ties with
Colombia.
Venezuela has accused
Colombia of deliberately
destabilizing the
region, following a
cross-border Colombian
raid on a rebel camp in
Ecuador on March 1.
The attack triggered
strong condemnation from
Ecuador, Venezuela and
Nicaragua and briefly
aroused fears of a war
in the Andean region as
Ecuador and Venezuela
ordered troops to their
borders with Colombia. |
