Remember national security adviser John Bolton’s note saying “5,000 troops to Colombia”? Colombian President Ivan Duque Marquez doesn’t.
He was asked about it during a Fox News interview Wednesday.
“National security adviser John Bolton, had this pad — and I’m sure you’re aware of it. Had a briefing, in which it said on there ‘5,000 U.S. troops to Colombia.’ So have you seen any additional U.S. troops? Have they been requested or sent to your country?” anchor Brett Baier asked.
Marquez said there has been no such move.
“No we have not. We have not received 5,000 troops,” Marquez replied. “I mean, I’m not good at reading notepads and I said yesterday — said today to John Bolton. But what I think, more than what the notepad said, is that the whole world needs to be united to call for the end of the dictatorship in Venezuela.”
Late last month during a White House briefing on sanctions against Venezuela’s oil industry, a photo captured Bolton holding a legal notepad with the words “5,000 troops to Colombia” scrawled on it.
Although Defense Department officials said at the time there were no plans to send troops to Colombia, a White House official told CNN “all options are on the table” in how the U.S. would deal with Venezuela’s socialist leader Nicolas Maduro.
Marquez met with Trump at the White House on Wednesday to discuss, among other issues, Venezuela. Trump reasserted to reporters that “all options” are being looked at to push Maduro out of power. The U.S. has recognized opposition leader Juan Guaido as the “interim president” of the South American country.
Maduro is facing international pressure to step aside as his country deals with rampant poverty and shortages of basic goods. Many Venezuelans are fleeing the country to nearby Colombia while Maduro has blocked entry of shipments of aide, including food, sent by the U.S. and other countries.
