Colombia: Juan Guaido photographed alongside paramilitaries, the controversy swells

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twitter Wilfredo Cañizales

Photos showing the Venezuelan opponent alongside Colombian drug traffickers and paramilitaries are stirring up some emotion in Colombia and Venezuela, where the Attorney General announced on Friday the opening of an investigation against Juan Guaido.

In a televised speech on Friday, Tarek William Saab, Attorney General of Venezuela, showed clichés on which the leader of the Venezuelan opposition poses with two men belonging to Los Rastrojos, a Colombian paramilitary group.

According to the Venezuelan Minister of the Interior, these photographs were taken on February 22, when Juan Guaido went to Colombia to oversee the sending of humanitarian aid to Venezuela , and to attend the Venezuela Aid mega-concert. Live , organized in Cucuta by Richard Branson, reports AFP. Forbidden to leave the country after his self-proclamation as interim president on January 23, Juan Guaido had passed through a forested area avoiding border crossings.

Two of his photos, one in which Juan Guaido poses with one Jhon Jairo Durán Contreras and the other where he is with Albeiro Lobo Quintero, were broadcast on Thursday on Twitter by Wilfredo Cañizares, director of an NGO. Colombian. Photos authenticated by Agence France presse .

Hemos enviado al @CancilleriaCol @CarlosHolmesTru a derecho de petición, solicitando information acerca de quienes desde el gbno colombiano conocían, organizaron y / o participaron, en el operativo de ingreso a nuestro país de @jguaido. https://t.co/aRr7jyfKQX

Joined by RFI, Wilfredo Cañizares questions the conditions under which Juan Guaido was able to contact the paramilitaries and the role of the Colombian authorities. " This is an isolated area with little traffic because of the fear and control of the Rastrojos in this area, " says the head of the Progresar Foundation. The paramilitaries imposed a curfew to facilitate the Venezuelan leader's move according to Wilfredo Cañizares, and " forced people to stay at home. We even received a call from villagers close to us who called us concerned because they did not know what was going on and could not go out even to the market. Our analysis is that the curfew and the ban on leaving the house have been imposed to prevent residents from taking photos or videos of Mr. Guaido's passage ".

Personally, I do not believe that Juan Guaido has directly negotiated his entry into the Colombian territory with the Rastrojos, continues Wilfredo Cañizares. All this has been negotiated in Colombia according to him and he asks the authorities to " tell the truth to the Colombians ": " at the level of the presidency or the Chancery, what was the level of participation in the illegal entry into Colombian territory (Juan Guaido) with the help of paramilitary Rastrojos. Who in the Colombian government was aware of this operation and participated? "

The important question is: Who are the coordinators of the paramilitary group of the Rastrojos, and who are the most important of the Guaidó a nuestro país? https://t.co/E7tyeW8Bu3

These photos have since made the front page of the press and social networks in Colombia.

Juan Guaido says he does not know his interlocutors

Juan Guaido, for his part, did not deny having been photographed with these people, but he said that he did not know their identity when the pictures were made. He also assured Colombian President Ivan Duque of his fight against drug trafficking.

Pdte. @IvanDuque respaldamos y admiramos su lucha determinada contra los grupos narcoterroristas. Cuente con Venezuela to negotiate in conjuncto, al haber convocado el órgano de consulta del TIAR, and with the Estado una vez cese the usurpación para garantizar the regional paz.

and with agencies