On September 25, Colombian President Iván Duque accused Nicolás Maduro of being “one more link in the transnational terrorism chain” and announced before world leaders at the United Nations (U.N.) that he would submit evidence proving the disputed Venezuelan government’s connections to narcotrafficking and terrorism.
Duque made his statements during his speech at the 74th U.N. General Assembly in New York.
“Its corrupt structures are servants of the drug cartels; its pawns are henchmen of the mafia and fuel violence in Colombia; they shelter murderers and child rapists, and whoever ignores these shameful acts are accomplices of the dictatorship,” he said during his address.
Duque added that his government would submit a 128-page report to the president and secretary general of the U.N. General Assembly that includes “reliable and conclusive” evidence that corroborates and demonstrates the complicity of Maduro in the “dictatorship’s support for criminal and narco-terrorist groups that operate in Venezuela to attack Colombia.”
The dossier contains a list of “20 criminals who betrayed the generosity of Colombians” and are now in Venezuela. He said that the report includes the location of more than 1,400 fighters from the National Liberation Army (ELN, in Spanish) and 207 locations in Venezuela controlled by the group. In addition, it mentions 20 landing strips used for narcotrafficking.
He also spoke about testimony provided by Venezuelans who, according to Duque, have seen up close the ELN’s actions in Venezuelan territory.
“These guerrilla leaders who today are under Maduro’s protection are the same ones who for years claimed responsibility for the oil pipeline attacks, causing irreparable environmental damage,” Duque added.
The president reiterated that Colombia is not and will never be an aggressor State, nor will it be provoked by “warmongering insinuations. But it will always raise its voice to denounce tyranny.”
At an event on the sidelines the General Assembly, Duque told VOA that the region is united to solve the crisis in Venezuela.