Colombian Consular Staff Leaves Venezuela Crossing Border By Foot - Correspondent

Three consular employees of the Colombian diplomatic mission together with their families left Venezuela on Sunday, crossing the border by foot, a Sputnik correspondent reported

SAN ANTONIO (Venezuela) (UrduPoint news / Sputnik - 25th February, 2019) Three consular employees of the Colombian diplomatic mission together with their families left Venezuela on Sunday, crossing the border by foot, a Sputnik correspondent reported.

The diplomats, accompanied by Venezuelan police, crossed the border in the settlement of San Antonio.

On Saturday, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro severed diplomatic relations with Colombia, accusing the latter of using its territory for "attacks against Venezuela," and ordered Colombian diplomats out in 24 hours. The decision came amid attempts of the Venezuelan opposition, led by self-proclaimed interim president Juan Guaido, to force US-sponsored humanitarian aid into the country, including through Colombia hosting an aid collection center. Maduro refuses to allow in such aid, calling it a "fake show" and a ploy to oust him from power.

Before rupture of diplomatic relations, Colombia had a functioning embassy in Caracas and 15 consulates in main Venezuelan cities.

Freddy Bernal, appointed by the central authorities as the so-called protector of the Tachira state, said that Colombia "forced" Venezuela to expel diplomats.

"The diplomatic personnel of Colombia were ordered to leave for Bogota. We regret that we were forced to make this decision, but the country cannot tolerate such aggression, so many lies, cannot tolerate that another country has become a military base for an invasion of Venezuela," Bernal said.

According to the politician, Venezuela is the target of aggression and a coup plot led by the United States, with criminal gangs from Colombia being at the forefront of these efforts.

Amid the growing crisis around Venezuela-bound aid deliveries, the Colombian Defense Ministry, in a comment to Sputnik on Saturday, denied that US forces were moving across its country in the run-up to the deliveries.