GENEVA (Reuters) - Colombia called on Wednesday for action to end Venezuela’s humanitarian crisis and bring about a political transition leading to free elections.

Francisco Barbosa Delgado, human rights counselor to Colombian President Ivan Duque, was addressing the U.N. Human Rights Council hours in Geneva before Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza was due to take the floor.

Some European and Latin American ambassadors were expected to boycott Arreaza’s speech, as more countries back opposition leader Juan Guaido and spurn President Nicolas Maduro, diplomats said.

“Action and solidarity should be based on full rejection of dictatorship of Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela,” Barbosa told the meeting.

“Last weekend, the world saw directly that the terror regime, whose main characteristic is violation of human rights, burned food and medicine being sent to hungry, famished people in Venezuela,” he said.

Guaido, recognized by most Western nations as Venezuela’s legitimate leader, slipped into neighboring Colombia last week to lead an abortive effort to bring in humanitarian aid. He is expected to slip back across the border in coming days.

“In the face of such situations, we cannot remain silent,” Barbosa said.

“What is needed are actions that promote transition and the holding of free, transparent elections with international monitoring in order to guarantee as soon as possible the establishment of democracy in Venezuela.”

Maduro denies that there is a crisis, despite overseeing a hyperinflationary economic meltdown that has spawned widespread food and medicine shortages.</s>GENEVA (Reuters) - Colombia called on Wednesday for action to end Venezuela’s humanitarian crisis and bring about a political transition leading to free elections.

Francisco Barbosa Delgado, human rights counselor to Colombian President Ivan Duque, was addressing the U.N. Human Rights Council hours in Geneva before Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza was due to take the floor.

Some European and Latin American ambassadors were expected to boycott Arreaza’s speech, as more countries back opposition leader Juan Guaido and spurn President Nicolas Maduro, diplomats said.

“Action and solidarity should be based on full rejection of dictatorship of Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela,” Barbosa told the meeting.

“Last weekend, the world saw directly that the terror regime, whose main characteristic is violation of human rights, burned food and medicine being sent to hungry, famished people in Venezuela,” he said.

Guaido, recognized by most Western nations as Venezuela’s legitimate leader, slipped into neighboring Colombia last week to lead an abortive effort to bring in humanitarian aid. He is expected to slip back across the border in coming days.

“In the face of such situations, we cannot remain silent,” Barbosa said.

“What is needed are actions that promote transition and the holding of free, transparent elections with international monitoring in order to guarantee as soon as possible the establishment of democracy in Venezuela.”

Maduro denies that there is a crisis, despite overseeing a hyperinflationary economic meltdown that has spawned widespread food and medicine shortages.</s>MOSCOW (Reuters) - A top Russian security official on Tuesday accused the United States of deploying forces in Puerto Rico and Colombia in preparation for a military intervention in Venezuela to topple Moscow’s ally, President Nicolas Maduro.

Venezuela, which has been plunged into political turmoil, was rocked by violent clashes at the weekend. The United States and a raft of other countries have backed the country’s opposition, while China and Russia have stood by Maduro’s government.

“... The United States is preparing a military invasion of an independent state,” Nikolai Patrushev, secretary of the Russian Security Council, was quoted as saying in an interview with weekly newspaper Argumenty i Fakty.

“The transfer of American special operations forces to Puerto Rico, the landing of U.S. forces in Colombia and other facts indicate the Pentagon is reinforcing its troops in the region in order to use them in an operation to remove ... Maduro from power.”

Patrushev said in the interview that Washington had asked Moscow for consultations on Venezuela and that Russia had agreed, but that U.S. officials had repeatedly postponed them under false pretexts.

When asked on Tuesday if Washington was preparing to take military action in Venezuela, the U.S. special envoy for Venezuela, Elliott Abrams, responded: “No.”

“The president has said all options are on the table. Presidents always say that and rightly so. But it ill behooves the Russians to talk about military intervention after they have dismembered both Georgia and Ukraine,” Abrams told reporters at the United Nations ahead of a Security Council meeting on Venezuela.

U.S. officials have previously dismissed Russian allegations about U.S. plans for Venezuela as baseless “propaganda”.</s>MOSCOW (Reuters) - A top Russian security official on Tuesday accused Washington of deploying forces in Puerto Rico and Colombia in preparation for a military intervention in Venezuela to topple Moscow's ally, President Nicolas Maduro, something the United States denied.

"... The United States is preparing a military invasion of an independent state," Nikolai Patrushev, secretary of the Russian Security Council, was quoted as saying in an interview with weekly newspaper Argumenty i Fakty.

"The transfer of American special operations forces to Puerto Rico, the landing of U.S. forces in Colombia and other facts indicate the Pentagon is reinforcing its troops in the region in order to use them in an operation to remove ... Maduro from power," Patrushev said.

However, the U.S. special envoy for Venezuela, Elliott Abrams, when asked on Tuesday if Washington was preparing to take military action in Venezuela, responded: "No."

"The president has said all options are on the table. Presidents always say that and rightly so. But it ill behooves the Russians to talk about military intervention after they have dismembered both Georgia and Ukraine," Abrams told reporters at the United Nations ahead of a Security Council meeting on Venezuela.

Venezuela, which has been plunged into political turmoil, was rocked by violent clashes at the weekend. The United States and a raft of other countries have backed the country's opposition, while China and Russia have stood by Maduro's government.

Patrushev said Washington had asked Moscow for consultations on Venezuela and that Russia had agreed, but that U.S. officials had repeatedly postponed them under false pretexts.

U.S. officials have previously dismissed Russian allegations about U.S. plans for Venezuela as baseless "propaganda".

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.

Firstpost is now on WhatsApp. For the latest analysis, commentary and news updates, sign up for our WhatsApp services. Just go to Firstpost.com/Whatsapp and hit the Subscribe button.</s>MOSCOW (Reuters) - A top Russian security official on Tuesday accused the United States of deploying forces in Puerto Rico and Colombia in preparation for a military intervention in Venezuela to topple Moscow's ally, President Nicolas Maduro.

Venezuela, which has been plunged into political turmoil, was rocked by violent clashes at the weekend. The United States and a raft of other countries have backed the country's opposition, while China and Russia have stood by Maduro's government.

"... The United States is preparing a military invasion of an independent state," Nikolai Patrushev, secretary of the Russian Security Council, was quoted as saying in an interview with weekly newspaper Argumenty i Fakty.

"The transfer of American special operations forces to Puerto Rico, the landing of U.S. forces in Colombia and other facts indicate the Pentagon is reinforcing its troops in the region in order to use them in an operation to remove ... Maduro from power."

Patrushev said in the interview that Washington had asked Moscow for consultations on Venezuela and that Russia had agreed, but that U.S. officials had repeatedly postponed them under false pretexts.

When asked on Tuesday if Washington was preparing to take military action in Venezuela, the U.S. special envoy for Venezuela, Elliott Abrams, responded: "No."

"The president has said all options are on the table. Presidents always say that and rightly so. But it ill behooves the Russians to talk about military intervention after they have dismembered both Georgia and Ukraine," Abrams told reporters at the United Nations ahead of a Security Council meeting on Venezuela.

U.S. officials have previously dismissed Russian allegations about U.S. plans for Venezuela as baseless "propaganda".

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.

Firstpost is now on WhatsApp. For the latest analysis, commentary and news updates, sign up for our WhatsApp services. Just go to Firstpost.com/Whatsapp and hit the Subscribe button.</s>GENEVA (Reuters) - Colombia called on Wednesday for action to end Venezuela’s humanitarian crisis and bring about a political transition leading to free elections.

Francisco Barbosa Delgado, human rights counselor to Colombian President Ivan Duque, was addressing the U.N. Human Rights Council hours in Geneva before Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza was due to take the floor.

Some European and Latin American ambassadors were expected to boycott Arreaza’s speech, as more countries back opposition leader Juan Guaido and spurn President Nicolas Maduro, diplomats said.

“Action and solidarity should be based on full rejection of dictatorship of Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela,” Barbosa told the meeting.

“Last weekend, the world saw directly that the terror regime, whose main characteristic is violation of human rights, burned food and medicine being sent to hungry, famished people in Venezuela,” he said.

Guaido, recognized by most Western nations as Venezuela’s legitimate leader, slipped into neighboring Colombia last week to lead an abortive effort to bring in humanitarian aid. He is expected to slip back across the border in coming days.

“In the face of such situations, we cannot remain silent,” Barbosa said.

“What is needed are actions that promote transition and the holding of free, transparent elections with international monitoring in order to guarantee as soon as possible the establishment of democracy in Venezuela.”

Maduro denies that there is a crisis, despite overseeing a hyperinflationary economic meltdown that has spawned widespread food and medicine shortages.</s>Moscow presumes Washington is preparing a military intervention in Venezuela, Nikolai Patrushev (pictured) the secretary of Russia’s Security Council said, quoted by Russian news agencies.

Russia had agreed to a proposal from Washington to hold consultations on Venezuela crisis, but the United States had repeatedly postponed them on “invented pretexts”. The United States show “sarcasm and arrogance towards the Venezuelan people” while it imposes humanitarian aid that will be rejected. Patrushev stressed that the United States, deploying military forces to Puerto Rico and Colombia are preparing an invasion to Venezuela to overthrow legally elected incumbent President Maduro.</s>A top Russian security official on Tuesday accused Washington of deploying forces in Puerto Rico and Colombia in preparation for a military intervention in Venezuela to topple Moscow's ally, President Nicolas Maduro, something the United States denied.

"... The United States is preparing a military invasion of an independent state," Nikolai Patrushev, secretary of the Russian Security Council, was quoted as saying in an interview with weekly newspaper Argumenty i Fakty.

"The transfer of American special operations forces to Puerto Rico, the landing of U.S. forces in Colombia and other facts indicate the Pentagon is reinforcing its troops in the region in order to use them in an operation to remove ... Maduro from power," Patrushev said.

However, the U.S. special envoy for Venezuela, Elliott Abrams, when asked on Tuesday if Washington was preparing to take military action in Venezuela, responded: "No."

"The president has said all options are on the table. Presidents always say that and rightly so. But it ill behooves the Russians to talk about military intervention after they have dismembered both Georgia and Ukraine," Abrams told reporters at the United Nations ahead of a Security Council meeting on Venezuela.

Venezuela, which has been plunged into political turmoil, was rocked by violent clashes at the weekend. The United States and a raft of other countries have backed the country's opposition, while China and Russia have stood by Maduro's government.

Patrushev said Washington had asked Moscow for consultations on Venezuela and that Russia had agreed, but that U.S. officials had repeatedly postponed them under false pretexts.

U.S. officials have previously dismissed Russian allegations about U.S. plans for Venezuela as baseless"propaganda".</s>GENEVA, Feb 27 (Reuters) - Colombia called on Wednesday for action to end Venezuela's humanitarian crisis and bring about a political transition leading to free elections.

Francisco Barbosa Delgado, human rights counsellor to Colombian President Ivan Duque, was addressing the U.N. Human Rights Council hours in Geneva before Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza was due to take the floor.

Some European and Latin American ambassadors were expected to boycott Arreaza's speech, as more countries back opposition leader Juan Guaido and spurn President Nicolas Maduro, diplomats said.

"Action and solidarity should be based on full rejection of dictatorship of Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela," Barbosa told the meeting.

"Last weekend, the world saw directly that the terror regime, whose main characteristic is violation of human rights, burned food and medicine being sent to hungry, famished people in Venezuela," he said.

Guaido, recognised by most Western nations as Venezuela's legitimate leader, slipped into neighbouring Colombia last week to lead an abortive effort to bring in humanitarian aid. He is expected to slip back across the border in coming days. "In the face of such situations, we cannot remain silent," Barbosa said.

"What is needed are actions that promote transition and the holding of free, transparent elections with international monitoring in order to guarantee as soon as possible the establishment of democracy in Venezuela."

Maduro denies that there is a crisis, despite overseeing a hyperinflationary economic meltdown that has spawned widespread food and medicine shortages.</s>(CNN) The US military has flown an increased number of reconnaissance flights in international airspace off the coast of Venezuela during the last several days to gather classified intelligence about the embattled government of President Nicholas Maduro, according to two US defense officials.

The officials would not detail which US military aircraft are being used, but the Navy and Air Force maintain several large fixed-wing aircraft capable of intercepting communications and monitoring the status of weaponry.

The officials noted that the effort is limited to whatever the aircraft can gather by staying in international airspace.

Several US military officials continue to emphasize there are no military options actively being considered for the Venezuela crisis. For now, the US military would only contemplate a response if US assets, personnel or the embassy were attacked.

Venezuela is in crisis as self-proclaimed interim president Juan Guaido battles Maduro for control.

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