US vows action on convoy attacks
Lima Group to meet in Bogota with American officials as Maduro government cuts ties with Colombia
WASHINGTON— The United States vowed to “take action” after Venezuelan troops violently drove back foreign aid convoys at several points in its border with Colombia and Brazil, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Saturday. He made the pledge ahead of Monday’s meeting of the Lima Group formed to resolve the crisis in Venezuela. US Vice President Mike Pence will attend the meet.
WASHINGTON— The United States “will take action” after Venezuelan troops violently drove back foreign aid convoys at several points in its border with Colombia and Brazil, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Saturday.
“The US will take action against those who oppose the peaceful restoration of democracy in #Venezuela. Now is the time to act in support of the needs of the desperate Venezuelan people,” Pompeo wrote on Twitter.
Lima Group meet set
US Vice President Mike Pence was set to meet with Lima Group of nations in Bogota on Monday to decide a course of action.
US President Donald Trump has said in the past that military intervention in Venezuela was “an option” but Pompeo made no reference to it on Saturday.
“The US condemns the attacks on civilians in #Venezuela perpetrated by Maduro’s thugs,” Pompeo said.
2 killed, 300 hurt
Troops loyal to President Nicolas Maduro drove back on Saturday trucks laden with food and medicine, killing two people and injuring more than 300 others.
“Today, the world saw in minutes, in hours, the worst face of the Venezuelan dictatorship,” said Juan Guaido, Venezuela’s self-proclaimed interim president.
Last month, Guaido invoked Venezuela’s constitution to assume an interim presidency and is now recognized by most Western nations as the nation’s legitimate leader.
Rights group Penal Forum said it recorded 29 injuries from bullet wounds and two deaths across Venezuela.
Colombian authorities said they registered 285 people injured, including those affected by tear gas.
Guaido personally sent off one convoy carrying aid from the Colombian city of Cucuta on Saturday alongside Colombian President Ivan Duque and Chilean President Sebastian Pinera.
The opposition had hoped soldiers would balk at turning back desperately needed supplies and some 60 troops defected on Saturday, according to Colombian authorities.
More defections
A social media video showed Venezuelan troops driving armored vehicles across a border bridge, knocking over metal barricades and speeding to the Colombian side.
“What we did today, we did for our families, for the Venezuelan people,” one of the defectors said in a video televised by a Colombian news program.
But the lines of Venezuelan National Guard at the frontier crossings held firm, firing tear gas at the convoys.
Reuters television images from the border town of San Antonio showed a dozen men on motorbikes, dressed in black and wearing balaclavas, firing shotguns and pistols at a crowd.
At the Urena border point, two aid trucks caught fire, sending plumes of dark smoke into the air as crowds raced to try to save the boxes of supplies, a Reuters witness said.
Cutting ties with Colombia
Angered by Duque’s support for Guaido, Maduro turned his ire on Colombia and said Duque was letting its territory be used for attacks against Venezuela.
“For that reason, I have decided to break all political and diplomatic relations with Colombia’s fascist government,” he told cheering supporters.
Maduro denies his oil-rich nation has any need of aid and accuses Guaido of conspiring with the United States to stage a coup and seize power in Venezuela.