Venezuelan opposition leader Henrique Capriles on Thursday denounced as “blackmail” a threat by Caracas to end support for Colombia’s peace process with leftist rebels.
President Nicolas Maduro’s government threatened to withdraw its support from the peace talks after Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos met with Capriles on Wednesday at the presidential palace.
A photograph of Santos and Capriles shaking hands triggered a swift and angry reaction from Caracas, which announced it was recalling its delegate to the peace talks in Havana.
“It is very difficult to work toward peace for a brother nation when the major institutions of that nation are provoking and stimulating the destabilization of Venezuela,” Venezuelan Foreign Minister Elias Jaua said.
He said the visit had “derailed” bilateral relations between the two neighbours.
Capriles told Colombia’s Blu radio that it was “unacceptable” for Venezuela to try to tell the president of Colombia whom he could meet with at his own presidential palace.