Former Colombia President Alvaro Uribe on Monday presented a case of slander against the current President of Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro, after suffering a series of public attacks in which Maduro has accused Uribe of crimes as serious as plotting his assassination.
In a 21-page document presented to the Prosecutor General’s office in Colombia, Uribe asked the authorities to investigate Maduro for the crimes of slander, libel and threats. This is the latest offensive in the battle between the two high officials that has been raging since Uribe accused Maduro of illegally coming to power.
“It is without doubt that Nicolas Maduro, through his public declarations, has falsely accused doctor Uribe of committing several crimes,” said the former president’s lawyer, Jamie Granados. “That he was behind a plan to assassinate [Maduro], that he was directly involved in the murder of a journalist, and that he belongs to paramilitary groups.”
“In this campaign [against Uribe], Mr. Maduro constantly refers to ‘conspiracy theories’ in order to affirm the existence of plans to destabilize Venezuela and to remove the legitimacy of the elections,” added Granados.
The petition states that the first slanderous accusation came on May 3rd, when Maduro claimed that Uribe wanted to assassinate him, an accusation that obliged current Colombian President, Juan Manuel Santos, to defend his predecessor.
MORE: Santos to defend Uribe against Venezuela accusations ‘without shouting or insults’
As well as Maduro, the petition names Venezuela’s Interior Minister, Miguel Rodriguez Torres, and the President of the country’s National Assembly, Diosdado Cabello, as being guilty of slander. Uribe wants investigations to start the moment they step foot on Colombian soil.
The news of Uribe’s petition was dismissed as a joke in Venezuela. When asked about it the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Elias Jaua, reportedly laughed before claiming that “no-one is in doubt that Alvaro Uribe is capable of [plotting to assassinate Maduro], and much more besides.”
Last week the Venezuelan government claimed that two Colombians had been captured with firearms, 10 Venezuelan army uniforms, and photos of Maduro and Cabello, apparently on their way to assassinate them both. The plot was allegedly orchestrated by Uribe, and involved the former President of Honduras, a Venezuelan terrorist and a CIA agent.
MORE: Venezuela arrest 2 Colombians over Maduro assassination plot
Maduro has even accused US President Barack Obama of knowing about the alleged plan to assassinate him, which he links to the proposed intervention in Syria as part of an “imperial offensive” against “independent countries”.
Sources
- Álvaro Uribe pide “acciones” contra Maduro (Semana)
- Venezuela se ríe del pedido de Uribe para investigar a Maduro (El Espectador)