The De­fence Min­istry has ini­tial­ly re­ject­ed claims by Venezuela Pres­i­dent Nico­las Maduro that Colom­bian para­mil­i­tary groups have in­fil­trat­ed east­ern Venezuela via Trinidad and To­ba­go.

The al­le­ga­tion was made by Maduro dur­ing the swear­ing-in cer­e­mo­ny of Jhoan­na Car­il­lo as the new gov­er­nor of Su­cre state – a coastal re­gion in north-east­ern Venezuela that lies across the Gulf of Paria from T&T - on Tues­day.

Maduro said, “Yes­ter­day, a group of ter­ror­ists was cap­tured try­ing to en­ter the east of the coun­try from T&T, with a batch of weapons of war, among which there are Colom­bians.”