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AP interview: Colombian leader warns Venezuela

Sep 21, 2019 | 4:07 PM

BOGOTA — Colombia’s president is comparing Nicolás Maduro to Serbian war criminal Slobodan Milosevic and says Venezuela’s embattled socialist leader would be making a “stupid” mistake were he to attack.

Ivan Duque made the comments in an interview Saturday with The Associated Press before travelling to New York. There, Duque is expected to condemn Maduro before the United Nations General Assembly as an abusive autocrat who is not only responsible for the country’s humanitarian catastrophe but is also now a threat to regional stability for his alleged harbouring of Colombian rebels.

Duque refused to rule out a military strike against the Marxist rebels he claims are hiding out across the border. But he says any aggression by Venezuela’s armed forces would immediately trigger a regional response with dire consequences for Maduro.