Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on Tuesday confirmed the capture of a prominent ELN rebel and said his country will not allow “the incursion of any subversive Colombian” group in his country.
“In this I am very clear,” said Chavez. “We want peace in Colombia, we don’t want war, but we are also not going to allow any incursions of subversive Colombian elements, be it terrorists, be it drug traffickers, be it guerrillas. This is [Colombia’s] problem and hopefully they find a road to peace,” Chavez was quoted as saying by Spanish press agency EFE.
On Tuesday, Chavez’ Colombian counterpart Juan Manuel Santos thanked Venezuela for the arrest of ELN commander Nilson Teran Ferreira, alias “Tulio” who in Colombia faces a 40-year prison sentence for kidnapping. According to Santos, the arrest was the result of “increasing cooperation on all fronts, including, as this shows, the security front.”
