Former Colombian President Alvaro Uribe admitted Monday he planned a military intervention against the rebel groups FARC and ELN in Venezuela but “didn’t have time” to execute it before his presidential term ended in 2010.
“We obtained new evidence of guerrilla camps in Venezuela. I had three options: Report it, [or] keep quiet, or the other option was to stage a military operation in Venezuela. I didn’t have time,” Uribe said during a conference at the Autonomous Latin American University in Medellin.
Uribe said he found new proof about the presence of Colombian guerrillas in Venezuela in the first six months of 2010. His presidential term ended in August 2010, leaving him without time to send military troops across Colombia’s eastern border.
In July 2010, Uribe denounced the presence of 87 guerrilla camps on Venezuelan territory in front of the Organization of American States. As a result, Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez broke all ties with Colombia.
At the conference, Uribe accused Chavez’ government failing to control high insecurity and criminality in Venezuela and contributing to it in Colombia. “In Venezuela insecurity and criminality has risen without anyone doing anything about it. Chavez insists that the violence is due to neoliberalism and he disagrees with our model although it has proven to be the one that works,” Uribe said.