The World Today
MADRID, 15 (EUROPA PRESS)
Colombian authorities reported this Friday that five Colombian citizens, including four signatories of the peace agreement signed with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), have been detained in Venezuela.
"The events reportedly occurred in Venezuelan territory, apparently near the binational bridge located in the department of Arauca, a border area between Colombia and Venezuela," reads a statement from the Agency for Reincorporation and Normalization (ARN), an agency affiliated with the Colombian Presidency.
In this regard, he noted that the detainees attended an ARN event in Fortul, a town in the Colombian department of Arauca, on August 13 and had planned to return "to their places of origin" a day later, although they decided to cross the bridge "with the intention of doing some sightseeing."
The ARN "activated the relevant institutional and diplomatic channels" to "clarify the events that led to his detention and whether his fundamental rights were respected," and has therefore been in contact with the Colombian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The entity also "established direct communication with the Colombian Embassy in Venezuela," as well as with the Venezuelan embassy in Bogotá, "in order to exhaust all diplomatic channels for the prompt and safe return of the detained citizens."
The detainees are peace signatories Mayiled Bustos Perdomo, Omar Delgadillo Rincón, William Rodríguez Rojas, and Diana Viloria Blanco, the latter a delegate of the National Reincorporation Council (CNR), an organization that monitors the reintegration of former FARC members into society. Also among those arrested is an ARN contractor, Camilo Vanegas Otálora.
