The Venezuelan government will denounce inside and outside the country a smear campaign against the honor of Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez and the Venezuelan democracy, launched by the Colombian oligarchy and US President George W. Bush's Administration, Minister of Foreign Affairs Nicolás Maduro Moros told state-run channel Venezolana de Televisión (VTV).

The minister disregarded the information provided by Colombian Minister of Defense Juan Manuel Santos, who stated that the head of the Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC), Iván Márquez, is in Venezuela.

In his view, the Colombian minister is "an anti-Venezuelan instigator who has irresponsibly echoed the US strategy against President Hugo Chávez, our government, and our country."