Colombian Foreign Minister Says Over 60 Venezuelan Servicemen Asked Bogota For Asylum

MEXICO CITY (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 24th February, 2019) Colombian Foreign Minister Carlos Holmes Trujillo said on Saturday that more than 60 Venezuelan National Guard troops who defected to Colombia had sought asylum in the country over the past day.

"Over 60 Venezuelan servicemen came to us, asking for asylum in the country," Holmes Trujillo told a press conference in the city of Cucuta near the border with Venezuela.

According to the minister, there is a certain procedure that these people now have to go through.

Earlier in the day, member of the Venezuelan parliament Juan Andres Mejia said that over 20 officials and servicemen had sided with opposition leader Juan Guaido.

The situation in crisis-torn Venezuela escalated on January 23 when Guaido declared himself interim president, disputing last year's reelection of incumbent president, Nicolas Maduro. Guaido was almost immediately recognized by the United States and some other countries. Russia, China, Mexico, among other nations, voiced support for Maduro, who, in turn, accused Washington of orchestrating a coup.