There is "no doubt" it would be easier to combat Colombia's rebel groups if Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro were no longer in power, Colombia's foreign minister said, amid accusations that Caracas is providing the groups with shelter. On Thursday, former leaders from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) announced a new offensive in a video believed to have been filmed in Venezuela. Ex-FARC commanders Ivan Marquez and Jesus Santrich appeared surrounded by armed fighters in the YouTube video, saying a 2016 peace accord had been betrayed. The announcement was condemned by President Ivan Duque's government, the United Nations and the FARC political party, whose leadership said the majority of ex-rebels remain committed to peace despite "difficulties and dangers." Combating the dissidents, who are estimated to number more than 2,200, and separate rebel group the National Liberation Army (ELN) would be easier were Maduro no longer in power, Foreign Minister Carlos Holmes Trujillo said in an interview late on Friday. "This regime protects them: it has opened its doors to them. This regime facilitates their actions from its territory," said Trujillo. Asked what proof Colombia has of rebel presence in Venezuela, Trujillo said: "There are indicators; there is a hypothesis: that's the information that we have." The United States also believes the Maduro government is providing shelter to dissident FARC and ELN groups, a senior State Department official said. Venezuelan Information Minister Jorge Rodriguez on Saturday said authorities foiled an attack he said was organized in Colombia that had targeted Venezuela's Supreme Court and a police special forces unit. He said Duque had ordered that 200 men be trained in three camps in Colombia to carry out paramilitary terrorist actions. "The current government of Colombia (has) turned its politics into a true threat to the tranquility of Venezuela," Rodriguez said in televised comments. Duque's press office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the accusation. Separately, Duque said in a statement that he plans to denounce Maduro at the United Nations and the Organization of American States for protecting terrorists. -Reuters
