CARACAS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 04th August, 2020) The government of Venezuela has sent a complaint to the United Nations, condemning the attack on its consulate in the Colombian capital of Bogota, Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza told Sputnik.
"We have sent a statement to United Nations Secretary [General] Antonio Guterres, denouncing the attack on our diplomatic building in Bogota," the minister said on Monday.
Venezuela's consulate in Bogota was vandalized last week. Arreaza has posted footage showing the premises looted and trashed. Venezuela has accused the Colombian government of having failed to ensure the protection of its consular premises as per international law.
Last week, Arreaza announced that the Venezuelan government was going to submit a complaint to UN Secretary General Guterres over the incident. Venezuela believes that Colombia has violated, in particular, the Vienna Conventions on diplomatic and consular relations, stipulating the inviolability of diplomatic and consular premises abroad.
The Colombian Foreign Ministry told Sputnik it had not been informed by the police of any acts of vandalism against the Venezuelan consulate, emphasizing that the consulate was not functioning since last February after Caracas cut diplomatic ties with Bogota.
The diplomatic estrangement was a result of Colombia recognizing US-backed Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido as the country's interim president in January 2019. The United States and several other western countries have sided with Guaido, while Russia, China, and Turkey, among other nations, have been supporting Maduro, recognizing him as the only legitimate leader of Venezuela.
