Colombia respects Venezuela's decision to close borders for 3 days

Colombia said on Thursday it respected Venezuela's "sovereign decision" to close its borders for three days, calling for catching the suspects who attacked Venezuelan troops on Wednesday and triggered the closure.

"Wednesday's incident in which, unfortunately, three Venezuelan soldiers were injured in an attack by these smuggling mafias, caused an immediate reaction within the Colombian Police," Colombia's Foreign Minister Maria Angela Holguin told journalists.

On Wednesday, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro ordered the border crossing point with Colombia be closed for 72 hours, especially in the area of San Antonio del Tachira and Urena, in Venezuela's northwestern state of Tachira where the incident took place.

"There was communication between the commander of the Venezuelan Guard and the commander of the Colombian Guard", and Colombia immediately enhanced its border security on its side to prevent the criminals from entering the country, said Holguin.

After closing the border, Maduro ordered Venezuelan Foreign Minister Delcy Rodriguez on Thursday to hold an urgent meeting with Colombia's foreign ministry.

On Sept. 14, Holguin will meet Rodriguez to discuss the bilateral agenda and border closure.

The main objective of this bilateral engagement should be their maximum cooperation to capture those responsible for the ambush against two young lieutenants from the Venezuelan National Guard (GNB), a sergeant from the Army and a civilian, added the president.

They were ambushed when trying to capture a group of smugglers who allegedly had a large amount of merchandise ready to transport to Colombia, according to local authorities. The victims are still in delicate condition.

The Venezuelan government has accused the Colombian opposition, headed by senator and former president Alvaro Uribe (2002-2010), of being behind a plan to destabilize Venezuela through paramilitaries. Endi