Maduro claims that Ivan Duque is preparing his assassination with snipers
Nicolás Maduro, denounced that his Colombian counterpart, Iván Duque, is preparing snipers to assassinate him in an area of that country, although he did not present evidence of this.
"There are groups who want to kill me, who are bringing snipers to kill me, from Colombia," added the Venezuelan leader during a government telematic event broadcast on public television VTV, before explaining that he attends public events, despite these threats, because he likes to travel around the country, "hugging people and feeling the warmth of the people.
Maduro's accusations against Duque and Colombia have been increasing in the face of a series of problems affecting Venezuela, which are multiplying in the context of one of the country's biggest crises.
Diplomatic relations between the two countries have been non-existent since Maduro broke them off in February 2019, when Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó tried to smuggle several tons of humanitarian aid into Venezuelan territory from the border city of Cúcuta.
However, tensions were heightened on May 3, when the Venezuelan government denounced an attempted terrorist attack by sea, allegedly planned by U.S. President Donald Trump, with Duque's complicity, to assassinate or imprison Nicolás Maduro and overthrow the Chavista government, as reported at the time by Maduro himself.
This Sunday, the Venezuelan president also pointed out that the infections caused by the new coronavirus have increased in his country due to the return of thousands of Venezuelan migrants through illegal crossings, an operation which, he said, was planned by Duque himself. He also criticized the Colombian leader's refusal to attend to his own people, especially Venezuelan nationals returning to their country, an attitude that is affecting the safety and health of all Venezuelans.
He also announced that Caracas and six states of the country remain in a phase of "radical quarantine" to stop the spread of COVID-19, which this day reached 15,463 cases with 142 deaths. "Caracas, (and the states of) Miranda, Zulia, Sucre, Bolívar, La Guaira and Táchira remain in phase 1 of radical quarantine," Maduro said. He therefore asked the Colombian president to have a "little bit of humanity" and to coordinate health care with Venezuela to stop COVID- 19.
"Ivan Duque, this is a case of humanity, good sense, common sense, we should be coordinating the attention of the people at the border, doing the quick tests, those of the PCR, in Colombian territory, in the places where the nationals pass by. If we were acting together, Colombia and Venezuela would be much better off, we Colombians and Venezuelans would do much better," Maduro said on VTV public television.
