Western Hemisphere
Venezuela's Vice-President Ramón Carrizález said on Sunday that he has evidence that eight of the eleven men killed last week were Colombian paramilitaries training in Venezuela.

Carrizález said in the TV show José Vicente Hoy, hosted by former Vice President José Vicente Rangel and broadcast by private TV channel Televen, that the group of men who were killed on the border was training on Venezuelan soil and was part of a paramilitary infiltration plan, DPA reported.

The top official added that the plot is part of a "systematic attack" from Colombia and the United States against the Venezuelan government. "The threat is becoming real. We are preparing to defend our territory, to secure sovereignty," he said.

Carrizález stressed that Colombia "has over 50 years of internal conflict that is hitting" Venezuela and makes our country "a victim of (Colombia's) domestic war."

The Venezuelan Vice-President referred to the "espionage" activities carried out by the Colombian Administrative Department of Security (DAS). He claimed that there is evidence against the Colombian intelligence agency. Carrizález added that the DAS is involved in an alleged plot to destabilize the government of President Hugo Chávez.

Translated by Gerardo Cárdenas