Colombia denies Venezuelan claim that its troops crossed border

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Colombia's defense minister on Sunday denied a Venezuelan claim that Colombian troops had crossed into that neighboring country. "I've investigated and there was no incursion," Defense Minister Juan Manuel Santos told Bogota-based Caracol radio. Rough terrain along the border would have "made it practically impossible for (the incursion) to have happened the way they say it happened," he said. But Venezuelan Information Minister Andres Izarra told Venezuelan state television that officials had photographs showing "a military incursion in our territory." Venezuela's foreign ministry sent Colombia a diplomatic note Saturday demanding an explanation for what it called an "illegal incursion" of 60 Colombian soldiers into Venezuela's western Apure state. The troops were found about 800 meters from the countries' shared border on Friday, the note claimed. Santos said he'd spoken with the head of Colombia's armed forces, who assured him no such incident had taken place.