Spanish
Venezuela's Minister of Interior, Justice and Peace, Diosdado Cabello, lashed out this Tuesday against Colombian President Gustavo Petro for spreading false information regarding a US bombing that, according to the dignitary, would have targeted a factory in the city of Maracaibo where cocaine was allegedly processed, despite the fact that such report was promptly denied by the party indicated.
“The President of Colombia, [Gustavo Petro], as always, sometimes comes out to make statements without having evidence, came out to say some outrageous things […]. In the midst of an attack against our country, those statements are made and then you are going to retract, because you know that they gave you wrong information. That's shameful, it's even more shameful. But hey: each one with their burdens, we with ours”, fustigated the high official after being asked by the press about the matter.
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He also called for a reminder that when the false rumor circulated – last December – the owner of the factory "came forward and explained what had happened." "He is someone who knows the area, knows where the factory was and gave the appropriate explanation. So the one who is right is the owner of the factory. He always was, from the first moment," he stressed.Petro's 'fake' and belated retraction
On December 29th, the company Primazol clarified that on Christmas Eve, a fire broke out at its facilities which was promptly attended to by emergency teams. At the same time, it "categorically" rejected versions that circulated through social media – in which it was falsely claimed that the fire was due to an attack by the US against a facility linked to drug trafficking – and highlighted that the aforementioned statements had "no relation whatsoever to the incident that occurred and do not correspond to official or verified information". The mess originated after the American president, Donald Trump, stated on December 29th that he had launched a bombing "in a dock area" of Venezuela. "Great explosion in dock area" in Venezuela, "we hit the implementation zone (where loading and unloading operations are carried out)", he declared from his property in Mar-a-Lago, where he was spending the Christmas holidays. Such statements were neither refuted nor confirmed by Caracas. In this context, Petro acted as an amplifier of the false report about the event at the Primazol headquarters. "We know that Trump bombed a factory in Maracaibo, we fear that they mix coca paste there to make cocaine and take advantage of the location in the sea of Maracaibo. It's simply the ELN [National Liberation Army]. The ELN is allowing with its drug trafficking and its mental dogma, to invade Venezuela", he wrote on his X account. His words earned him a response from Carlos Eduardo Siu, president and founder of Primazol, who through a video released on social media on December 31, explained the nature of his company's activities, showed the damage caused by the accident that occurred the previous week and, in a message addressed to the Colombian leader, stated that they do not manufacture "any type of narcotics" there. “We need you, please, to stop besmirching our name and our honor, which has cost so many years. From my father, myself and my entire team, who have been vilified during the last few days in this country,” demanded Siu.This day, the president published on X a retraction in which he alluded to the deleted post, in which he mentioned the fall of "some missile" on "a cocaine factory" on Venezuelan soil. "I said it was in Maracaibo, and the truth is that the owner of that company is right. Without telling us the cause of the fire, it was not in a factory to transform chickens to the market, as I said. It seems that it happened in a strategic company of the economy there [of Venezuela]. I would like to know from its owner the cause of the fire", he pointed out.
"What is certain is that a missile did fall, but a little further north, very close to Colombia, in Wayuu land, a binational community. They only build with wooden poles. Several community assets were lost. But we don't know about any deaths or factories. Perhaps a palisade guarding cocaine," he added.Petro sent his greetings to the affected businessman by the amplification of the false report and assured that he published "his video –Siu's– because [he] felt hurt" because of his "words".
