MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Maduro's links with terrorism “a threat” to the region, opposition leader says

Guaidó called the democratic governments of the continent to take action against Maduro's stance towards terrorists

According to Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó, Nicolás “Maduro's links with international terrorism are a threat to the region.”

Guaidó made these remarks Sunday about the investigation in Colombia on the alleged death in Venezuelan territory of Luciano Marín Arango, a leader of a dissident faction of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), who also goes by the alias of “Iván Márquez.”

”We have warned about the link between (Nicolás) Maduro and terrorism. The dictator not only intends to turn Venezuela into a refuge for terrorists but also into a center of operations for irregular groups. Despite that, due to the conflicts between them, their leaders are killed,“ Guaidó said on Twitter.

Colombian President Iván Duque said that his country was checking information regarding the possible death in Venezuela of alias ”Iván Márquez“.

”They are at this moment information that is being verified. We are working with our intelligence to verify that information and obviously as soon as we have some corroboration, we will report it in a timely manner,“ said Duque.

According to Colombian media, the guerrilla fighter allegedly died in a fight over the control of the drug trafficking business on the border with Venezuela between the dissident group known as ”Segunda Marquetalia“ and criminal gangs.

Duque insisted the FARC dissident leader ”was in Venezuela protected by Nicolas Maduro, the world knows that.“

Guaidó insisted that these ”links“ between the Venezuelan president and terrorism should ”call the attention and action of the democratic governments of the continent.“

”The dictatorship will continue to be a danger to the Americas until we recover democracy in Venezuela,“ he added.

Other FARC dissidents have been known to have fallen in combat with either local gangs or Colombian authorities, such as Miguel Botache Santanilla, known as ”Gentil Duarte,“ whose death was confirmed last May, in a confrontation with another group of ex-guerrillas in the state of Zulia, bordering Colombia.

Also killed in Venezuela were Henry Castellanos, alias ”Romaña“; Hernán Darío Velásquez, alias ”El Paisa“; and Seuxis Paucias Hernández Solarte, alias ”Jesús Santrich“, who were part of the ”Second Marquetalia”.

(Source: EFE)