Colombia accuses Russia of practicing "foreign interference" on its border with Venezuela What's the story?

The Colombian Defense Minister accused Russia of practicing "foreign interference" on his country's borders with Venezuela, in an area witnessing a bloody confrontation between armed groups, one of which is the National Liberation Army backed by Caracas, while the Russian embassy in Bogota denied the allegations.

Colombia accused Russia of "foreign interference" on its border with Venezuela, in statements denied by the Russian embassy in Bogota on Friday.

"We know that some elements and military units of the (Venezuelan) Bolivarian military forces have been mobilized towards the border (between Colombia and Venezuela) with the support of Russia," Colombian Defense Minister Diego Molano said Thursday.

Citing intelligence sources, Molano denounced Russian "foreign interference" in this region, which has witnessed since the beginning of January a bloody confrontation between armed groups, one of which is the National Liberation Army backed by Caracas, according to the Colombian authorities.

In a statement published Friday, the Russian embassy in Colombia expressed its "skepticism" of these "irresponsible" statements.

It deplored the "repeated attempts" by the Colombian government "to accuse the Russian Federation of supposed interference in Colombia's internal affairs."

The Russian mission added that what was issued by Colombia were "irresponsible statements by a member of the government", criticizing Minister Molano for his "tireless pursuit" to find "imaginary" enemies and making statements "without any verification".

Since the beginning of January, the National Liberation Army, a faction influenced by Che Guevara's revolutionary ideas, has been confronting defectors from the Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC) who reject the 2016 peace agreement with the Marxist armed group, to control the territory of the Arauca region, which is separated by a river from Venezuela.

Due to this geographical proximity, the Arauca region witnesses a lot of trafficking and smuggling operations and includes an important export route for drugs manufactured in Colombia.

The violence between these gangs, mainly targeted killings, resulted in about 70 people being killed in one month. Violence is also raging in neighboring Venezuela, where the two groups, according to Bogota, have rear bases. But the government of Nicolas Maduro, an ally of Moscow, rejects these accusations.

Bogota, one of the main allies of the United States in Latin America, and Caracas severed diplomatic relations after the arrival of conservative President Ivan Duque to power in August 2018.