Medellin, Colombia - Venezuelan Foreign Minister Nicolas
Maduro attacked US Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte on
Tuesday, calling him a 'petty official with a criminal record.'
At the annual meeting of the General Assembly of the Organization
of American States (OAS) in the Colombian city of Medellin, Maduro
accused Negroponte of being 'responsible for disappearances, for
tortures and for deaths in Central America and in several parts of
the world.'
He further termed him a 'character of the worst kind.'
Maduro was reacting to comments by Negroponte, who on Monday
called upon Venezuela to actively combat the Revolutionary Armed
Forces of Colombia (FARC) that 'have sought sanctuary' in its
territory.
Maduro accused Negroponte of seeking to 'drive the wedge of
intrigue' at the Medellin gathering and to determine the agenda of
the meeting.
The Venezuelan minister interpreted that the United States was
upset about the meeting that Maduro held Monday with Colombian
Foreign Minister Fernando Araujo, who sought to revamp bilateral ties
following a severe crisis.
'This petty official has no moral quality to talk about any issues
in our continent, and neither does the United States,' Maduro
complained.
He went as far as to say that the US government is 'behind the
political operation, the show that is being staged around the
computers' found in a Colombian cross-border raid on a FARC camp on
Ecuadorian territory on March 1.
The raid has been a constant topic at the generala assembly
meeting, which started Sunday and was set to end Tuesday.
According to Colombian officials, the contents of the computers
reveal ties between the Venezuelan government and FARC.
'We call to the conscience of the Colombian people, of the
Colombian government, to realize that behind this campaign there is
only one objective: to divide us, to confront us against each other,
to create a conflict,' Maduro said.
USA
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