World Affairs
The Political and Humanitarian Affairs Officer of the Embassy of Sweden in Colombia Tommy Strömberg told El Universal in an interview on Thursday that "some months ago" his government had requested Venezuela information about the rocket launchers sold by a Swedish firm to Venezuela and found last year in a camp of the Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC).

"The Colombian government told us about the seizure and then we contacted the Venezuelan Ministry of Foreign Affairs, asking for information," Stromberg added, but declined to tell the exact time and day of the request.

For his part, Venezuelan ambassador to Colombia Gustavo Márquez denied on Thursday that the Colombian government had apprised Venezuelan authorities earlier about the rocket launchers which were seized from the FARC.

Strömberg's clarification rebutted the comments made by Ambassador Márquez about the origin of the weapons. If Colombia had not requested such information, then Swedish authorities went ahead without waiting for a reply from the Venezuelan authorities.

Frank López Ballesteros
EL UNIVERSAL