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Colombia expresses serious concerns about wiretapping in Venezuela

Colombian Ambassador to Venezuela lodged a verbal protest before the Venezuelan Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Former Colombian Consul in Maracaibo, Carlos Galvis, said in Bogotá that he does not regret his remarks on Venezuela (Handout Photo / Panorama newspaper)

Politics
Colombian Foreign Minister Jaime Bermúdez said that the Colombian government has "serious concerns about a possible wiretapping of the conversations of Colombia's diplomatic personnel" in Venezuela, following the recalling of Carlos Galvis, the former consul general in Maracaibo (state of Zulia).

He also said that the Colombian Ambassador to Venezuela had lodged a verbal protest to the Venezuelan Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Reuters reported. Shortly before, the former consul reportedly resigned from his position, a Colombian Foreign Ministry source said, as reported by EFE.

Bermúdez rejected the "inconvenient, ill-timed and indelicate" terms against the government of Colombia and President Álvaro Uribe used by the host of the TV show where the taped conversation was broadcast.

"We took the decision to recall the consul and we expressed our concerns about the eavesdropping of communications between Colombian diplomats and the words used in the TV program against our government," the Colombian Foreign Minister said.  

Bermúdez said that the incident was overcome. He admitted that the outgoing consul committed an inconvenient and inappropriate act when he talked about Venezuela's internal affairs, EFE reported.


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