On Twitter, Arreaza posted a letter sent on April 30 to Editor-in-chief Dean Baquet, questioning the content of the press release entitled ¨Terrorist Group Step into Venezuela as Lawlessness Grows.¨

In the letter, the Foreign Minister described the publication as a shameless attempt to make Venezuela suffer the symptoms its neighboring Colombia has been suffering for years.

In this regard, Arreaza questioned the attempts to distort the nature of recent clashes emerged on the Colombian-Venezuelan border between the Bolivarian National Armed Forces (FANB) and irregular groups from the neighboring country.

Arreaza recalled the impact caused for decades in the country by internal conflict in Colombia, and added that ‘we have sheltered at least six million Colombians displaced by violence, drug trafficking, political persecution and systemic inequality.’

He stressed that the FANB was bound to give a firm response to the claims of transferring the prevailing model of violence in the neighboring nation to Venezuelan territory.

The Venezuelan foreign minister also ratified his country´s stance of zero tolerance with irregular groups, once again denying assertions about alleged presence of insurgents of the so-called National Liberation Army in Venezuela.

In this regard, he questioned the intention of The New York Times to promote a campaign of discredit, in keeping with the interests of presenting the image of a country out of control needing a military intervention because it constitutes a threat to its neighboring nations.

pgh/Pll/jf / wup/gdc