Western Hemisphere
Insecurity in the border between Venezuela and Colombia is not random and rather stems from a strategy developed in Washington and implemented by Bogotá, said Venezuelan Foreign Minister Nicolás Maduro.

Venezuelan top diplomat's statements came in an interview with state-run news agency Agencia Bolivariana de Noticias (ABN) published on Thursday.

"This plan intends to destabilize Venezuela through violence, murders by hired hit men, killings, the rise of cross-border crime, and high crime rate in the main Venezuelan cities. This plot has been denounced and we are coping with it," Maduro said.

The Foreign Minister stressed that paramilitaries are the "weapon" used to carry out the destabilizing plan.

Maduro added that the "paramilitaries" have been supported by opposition groups and leaders, particularly by César Pérez Vivas, the governor of the southwestern state of Táchira, located on the border with Colombia.