COLOMBIANS SLAM INFLUX OF US TROOPS

Former Colombian president Pedro Samper has slammed the arrival of an 800-member US military contingent in Colombia ostensibly dispatched to “advise” in the counter-narcotics campaign of the Latin American country, TeleSUR reported on Monday, June 1, 2020. Samper said the country’s Congress is the only authority with the power to legally permit the permanence of foreign troops on national soil.

Senator Aida Avella of the Patriotic Party also criticized the US military, saying it "cannot enter Colombian territory above (sic) Congress' to advise the fight against drug trafficking," while other political figures and activists have rejected the arrival Monday of U.S. Army's 1st Security Force Assistance Brigade (SFAB) in Colombia.

Former Senator Piedad Cordoba ironically tweeted that if 800 US soldiers are coming for counternarcotics operations in the region, they should “start with the case of drug trafficker Ñeñe Hernandez, who financed a presidential campaign."

Others speculate that the influx of US troops is preparatory to mounting direct action against Venezuela, which recently foiled an attack by US mercenaries and Venezuelans identified with self-declared president Juan Guaido, a senator who has campaigned since January 2019 to unseat President Nicolas Maduro.