Venezuela President Nicolas Maduro. File photoCARACAS, Apr 24 Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said that his Colombian counterpart, Ivan Duque, is planning sabotage in the territory of the Bolivarian Republic against law enforcement officers.»Ivan Duque, together with individual and organized criminals, plans to throw saboteurs across the border along the paths. These are groups of bandits, criminals who will primarily attack the police and the military, attack the security forces,» Maduro said during a speech broadcast by the state channel Venezolana de Televisión. According to the Venezuelan leader, Duque seeks demoralize his country's security forces to render them ineffective. «First, kill the police so that the police lose morale and effectiveness, and then attack the police and army headquarters. Warn the governors, I'm not shaking the air — this is the plan of the drug mafia that rules Colombia» , the politician added. According to Maduro, his Colombians his colleague is desperate to hurt Venezuela before he leaves office in August this year. Venezuela severed diplomatic relations with Colombia in February 2019 after an attempt by opposition activists led by Juan Guaido to truck alleged humanitarian aid across the border. The government called this action an invasion attempt. Caracas accuses Bogota of consistently destabilizing the internal situation in Venezuela. Such incidents include the August 2018 assassination attempt on Maduro, the 2019 «attempted invasion» and the infiltration of terrorist armed groups across the border. : US will not ease sanctions against Venezuela to replace Russian oil
