Venezuelan security forces detained a group of Colombian citizens who took part in Saturday’s clashes between Venezuelan police and protesters on the border of the two countries.
“We have detained several provocateurs. They were armed during the arrest. They fired towards the Venezuelan military, ”said representatives of the guards of the Bolivarian Republic.
According to the Venezuelan police, the detained Colombians are already testifying. They informed the police about the whereabouts of weapons caches under the Simon Bolivar international bridge on the Venezuelan-Colombian border.
“It was a very hard day. Colombian bandits shot at us, but we still won, ”said a Venezuelan law enforcement officer in an interview with the journalists of the news agency“ Sputnik ”.
The Sputnik correspondent reported that the situation on the border had already stabilized after the clashes, but the Venezuelan army and police are on full alert to repel new possible attacks from the Colombian side.
Currently, three frontier bridges are blocked, through which the opposition was trying to bring humanitarian aid into the country.
Three consular employees of the Colombian diplomatic mission left Venezuela on February 24 with their families, crossing the border on foot. Colombian diplomats, accompanied by Venezuelan police, crossed the border into the village of San Antonio.
“Colombian diplomatic personnel were ordered to travel to Bogota. We regret that we were forced to make this decision, but the country cannot tolerate such aggression, so many lies, cannot tolerate that another country became a military base for invading Venezuela, ”said Freddie Bernal, the so-called protector of the state of Tachira.
According to the politician, Venezuela is the object of aggression and conspiracy with the aim of a coup d’état led by the United States, with criminal groups from Colombia being at the forefront of these efforts.
The commentary followed after Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro broke off diplomatic relations with Colombia, accusing her of using his territory to “attack Venezuela.”