The United Socialist Party of Venezuela’s (PSUV) Vice President of International Affairs, Rander Peña, is accusing Colombia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Gilberto Murillo, of being on the take. His paymaster? Not Bogotá but the U.S. State Department and its policy objectives in the region. Meanwhile, former right-wing Colombian president Juan Manuel Santos is said to be “operating comfortably from the shadows, through the ever-obedient Foreign Minister Gilberto Murillo,” writes Peña.

Despite what seemed like a cordial relationship between Petro and Caracas, Colombia, through Murillo, has in recent weeks expressed hostile sentiments against its neighbour.

In a text which he refers to Murillo as a “low-level” official, Peña states, “It is unacceptable that someone subordinate to other interests prevents the people, who have chosen a clear path, from achieving their objectives. The united people must prevent this from continuing to happen.”

The PSUV’s Vice President of International Affairs went on to state, “While some dreamed of an independent foreign policy aligned with human causes, what they got was a tragicomedy where the foreign minister acts as a puppet of the same interests that Petro promised to confront…The devil pays poorly, to whom he serves well.”

Peña concludes his text with a message of “love and solidarity” to the people of Colombia, those  “who continue to face the same imperial and oligarchic interests as always.”