Caracas, July 17 (RHC)-- Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza has rejected the statements made by his Colombian counterpart, Carlos Holmes Trujillo, who is on an official visit to the United States.  During his stay, Holmes Trujillo reiterated the accusations of an alleged connection between the Venezuelan government and Colombia's National Liberation Army (ELN).

In this regard, the Venezuelan diplomat denounced that these theories aim aimed to distract attention from the growing internal problems of the Colombian government.  The strategy of trying to distract public opinion from the crisis of the peace process, the growing drug industry and the violence unleashed in Colombia, using Venezuela as a wild card, no longer works for them.  They look like a broken record. And a "very bad and very scratched record."

According to press reports, the visit by the Colombian foreign minister to the United States includes among its points the treatment of the Venezuelan issue with authorities of the United States.  The Colombian Foreign Ministry announced meetings in Washington with members of the U.S. Treasury Department, Secretary of State Michael Pompeo, security advisor John Bolton and Elliot Abrams, special representative for Venezuela.