The government of Colombia responded today to news that two Russian nuclear-capable heavy bombers had arrived in Venezuela, saying that it would not be provoked by what they considered to be the aggressive measure.
The response came from Colombian Minister of Defense Guillermo Botero, who said in a radio interview:
Colombia is not a country that provokes (…) and it does not let itself be provoked.
Yesterday, Minister of Defense Vladimir Padrino Lopez personally welcomed the arrival of two Russian Tu-160 bombers at the Simon Bolivar International Airport in Maiquetia. The bombers, which are capable of delivering nuclear weapons, arrived in the country to participate in joint exercises with the Venezuelan air force, Lopez explained.
Botero said that he would direct Colombia’s armed forced to be “prudent” in the coming days as the joint exercises take place.
U.S. Reacts to Bombers’ Arrival
The government of the United States also responded to the surprise arrival of the nuclear bombers in Venezuela yesterday.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo tweeted out the following message last night:
For his part, Republican Senator for the state of Florida Marco Rubio has tweeted four messages on the bombers over the last 24 hours. Below, Rubio’s response:
In response, Minister of Foreign Affairs Jorge Arreaza tweeted his own message responding to Pompeo’s message from yesterday. Below, Arreaza’s response:
1/3 [Secretary Pompeo’s] reaction against the military cooperation between Russia and Venezuela, is not only disrespectful, but also cynical: the US has at least 800 military bases (that we know of) in 70 countries. Today, 75 of the U.S.’ 107 security cooperation programs, operate in Latin America
While the “1/3” at the start of Arreaza’s tweet suggests a three-tweet thread, Arreaza has yet to write the second and third installments of the thread as of the writing of this update.
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