"The two Venezuelan military aircraft initially entered 2.9 kilometers inside Colombian airspace, flying over the area of Majayura (in northern Guajira department), quickly disappearing in the direction of Castilletes," the ministry said in a statement, referring to a military base located along the border with Venezuela.
"The two Venezuelan military aircraft then also flew over a National Army military unit in La Flor," Guajira, or some 2.27 kilometers inside Colombian airspace, before again "rapidly flying back out back towards Castilletes," according to the ministry.
Colombia reinforced security in the border department of Guajira following the incident, Colombia's Caracol news network reported, adding the government plans to request an explanation.
The two countries have been locked in a diplomatic scuffle since Venezuela closed major border crossing points last month and deported over a thousand of Colombians in a bid to fight a thriving cross-border smuggling trade.
Many of those Colombians are refugees fleeing decades of violence from Latin America's longest-running civil war. The United Nations in Colombia has called for the two nations to dialogue to avoid aggravating the humanitarian crisis on their shared border.
Some 19,952 people have crossed the border at random points along the river that runs between the two countries since the bridges were closed off by the Venezuelan military guard, according to the regional UN office.
Xinhua - globaltimes.cn
14/9/15
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Colombia says airspace violated by Venezuela...
ReplyDeleteAir force radars "detected the entry to Colombian territory of two Venezuelan military aircraft in the Alta Guajira zone" on the northern border with Venezuela on Saturday afternoon, the ministry said in a statement.
The planes entered Colombia for nearly 3km and then flew over an army unit, it said. The ministry did not describe the type of aircraft detected.
Colombia's government will formally protest and seek an explanation from Venezuela for the airspace violation, Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos said.
"I have ordered the foreign ministry and defence ministry to present a formal protest tomorrow to Venezuela for violation of our airspace," he said on Twitter.
Delcy Rodriguez, Venezuela's foreign minister, said there was no evidence of any violation of Colombian airspace.
"We're concerned about the systemic tendency of the Colombian government to invent non-existent incidents," she wrote on Twitter................http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/09/colombia-airspace-violated-venezuela-150914003326258.html
The United Nations has urged Venezuela to prevent human rights abuses of Colombians being deported from the country, including the separation of children from their parents, in a simmering border crisis between the two neighbours...
ReplyDeleteVenezuela closed several major border crossings and deported nearly 1,500 Colombians last month in what it described as a crackdown on smuggling and crime along the shared border.
Fearing deportation, another 15,255 Colombians have fled their adopted homeland to Colombia in recent weeks, many crossing rivers and bridges with their belongings on their backs, according to Colombian government figures.
"I am disturbed by the recent collective deportation of more than one thousand Colombians from Venezuela," said Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, in his opening statement to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.
He said the deportations had involved rights violations such as a lack of due process, the destruction of property and the separation of children from their parents.
"I urge the authorities to take immediate measures to guarantee family reunification and to prevent further abuse of Colombians."................Reuters.......aljazeera.com