After being attacked in the afternoon of Saturday with explosive devices, Nicolás Maduro accused the Colombian president, Juan Manuel Santos, of the incident

Yesterday afternoon, the president of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, his wife and the defense minister, Vladimir Padrino López, were evicted during the celebration of the 81st anniversary of the Bolivarian National Guard after what the president described as a "Scheduled attack from Bogotá."

Maduro said hours later, in an address broadcast on radio and television, that his Colombian counterpart, Juan Manuel Santos, was the culprit of the terrorist act: "This is an attempt to kill me, they have tried to kill me today ( …), I have no doubt that the name of Juan Manuel Santos is after this attack, "said Maduro.

"The first investigations indicate that several of the financiers live in the United States, in the state of Florida, I hope that President Donald Trump is willing to fight terrorist groups," added the Venezuelan president.

Leer en español: Atentado contra Maduro: Santos sería el responsable según el presidente venezolano

Jorge Rodríguez, communication minister, reported that the president was the victim of an attack with "drone-type flying devices that contained an explosive charge", which snipers detonated near the stage where Maduro offered a speech during the celebration, and left at least 7 soldiers wounded.

According to El Nuevo Diario, an anonymous group claimed responsibility for the attack, which they named "Operation Fénix", through the twitter social network. The alleged perpetrators, who are called "Soldiers of Franela", claim that they are a group of "military and civilian patriots and loyal to the people of Venezuela (…) based on legal and constitutional arguments."

In a press release, the Colombian Foreign Ministry rejected the accusations of Nicolás Maduro, describing them as absurd and lacking any foundation: "It is usual for the Venezuelan president to permanently blame Colombia for any type of situation. We demand respect for President Juan Manuel Santos, for the Government, and for the Colombian people".

In fact, last month the Venezuelan leader accused the United States of wanting to take Colombia and Venezuela to an armed struggle. According to Europa Press, Maduro warned that Donald Trump is planning a military intervention in his country and is causing damage to populations near Colombia to encourage confrontation between the two countries.

Evo Morales, president of Bolivia, showed his contempt for the events. The Bolivian leader said that "we strongly repudiate a new aggression and cowardly attack against Brother Pdte. @NicolasMaduro and the Bolivarian people. After the failure in his attempt to overthrow him democratically, economically, politically and militarily, now the empire and its servants attempt against his life".

We energetically repudiate a new attack and cowardly attack against Brother Pdte. @NicolasMaduro and the Bolivarian people. After the failure in its attempt to overthrow it democratically, economically, politically and militarily, now the empire and its servants threaten their lives.

– Evo Morales Ayma (@evoespueblo) August 5, 2018

On the other hand, the president of Cuba Miguel Díaz-Canel, and the ex-President Raul Castro, condemned the act and expressed their "full solidarity and unrestricted support to the president @NicolasMaduro, to the government and to the Civic-Military Union of the Bolivarian and Chavista people" from the Twitter account of the Chancellery of Cuba.

# 4Ago #DECLARACION of the Revolutionary Government: #Cuba expresses full solidarity and unrestricted support to the President @NicolasMaduro and the Bolivarian Revolution and Chavista. #RevolucionIndestructible Via @CubaMINREX https://t.co/WhnxXAuIwa pic.twitter.com/bVb2fVWTdF

– Chancellery of Cuba (@CubaMINREX) August 5, 2018

LatinAmerican Post | Luisa Fernanda Báez
Translated from “Atentado contra Maduro: Santos sería el responsable según el presidente venezolano”