BOGOTA (Reuters) - Colombia on Tuesday rejected a Russian warning against foreign military intervention in Venezuela and said it supported a peaceful transition to democracy in the neighboring South American country.

"Colombia reiterates that the transition to democracy must be conducted by the Venezuelans themselves peacefully and within the framework of the Constitution and international law, supported by political and diplomatic means, without the use of force," Colombian Foreign Minister Carlos Holmes Trujillo said in a statement.

He was responding to a March 28 letter from the upper house of Russia's parliament, forwarded to Colombia's Congress by Russian Ambassador Sergei Koshkin, that said the "illegitimate use of military force against Venezuela by other states that support the opposition will be interpreted ... as an act of aggression against a sovereign state."

Venezuelan soldiers stand guard at the Tienditas International Bridge that links Colombia and Venezuela, near Urena, Venezuela, February 8, 2019. Associated Press

Russia has emerged as a staunch backer of Venezuela's leftist President Nicolas Maduro as his nation descended into political turmoil this year. The United States and dozens of other nations have backed opposition leader Juan Guaido, who invoked the constitution to assume Venezuela's interim presidency in January, arguing that Maduro's 2018 re-election was illegitimate.

Colombia, which supports Guaido, has repeatedly denied it has any intention of launching a military offensive across its border with Venezuela.

But in his statement on Tuesday, Trujillo said military support for Maduro's socialist government risked harming the transition to democracy while threatening regional peace and security.

The March touchdown near Caracas of two Russian air force planes carrying some 100 Russian special forces and cyber-security personnel has raised international concerns about Moscow's backing for Maduro.

Russia, which has supplied fighter jets, tanks, and air defense systems to Venezuela, has dismissed US criticism of its military cooperation with Caracas saying it is not interfering in the Latin American country's internal affairs and poses no threat to regional stability.

An airplane with the Russian flag at Simon Bolivar International Airport in Caracas, Venezuela, March 24, 2019. REUTERS/Carlos Jasso

Russian state-owned defense firm Rostec said Monday that it had owned a training center in Venezuela to teach the country's pilots to fly Russian-made Mi-35M helicopters gunships and Russian-made military transport helicopters.

Igor Chechikov, deputy chief executive at Russian Helicopters, told Russian news agencies on Tuesday that all the necessary equipment has been delivered to Venezuela and that construction of the training center should be done by the end of this year.

Colombia acted as a staging ground in February as the United States and other countries supported Guaido's effort to transport hundreds of tons of humanitarian aid into Venezuela. Maduro, who dismisses Guaido as a U.S. puppet, blocked the aid and Venezuelan troops pushed back protesters with tear gas.

Millions of Venezuelans have fled to Colombia to escape widespread food and medicine shortages in their chaotic homeland, seeking jobs locally and passage into other Latin American countries. </s> Venezuela hit back at Colombia on Wednesday branding as fake news claims from its neighbor that helicopters and troops had violated its sovereignty in an illegal incursion.

Venezuela has "no doubts in qualifying" the news as "another false positive," the foreign ministry said in a statement.

"There was no incursion of any sort either by air or land," it added.

Colombia had sent a strongly-worded protest to the Venezuelan ambassador on Tuesday over what it claimed was an incursion into its Norte Santander department on Sunday.

"Two helicopters, identified with the initials of the Bolivarian National Guard and about 30 armed personnel belonging to the Bolivarian National Armed Forces of Venezuela" landed in the border region of Tibu, Colombia's foreign ministry said.

The South American neighbors have locked horns in recent years over similar incidents along their 2,200-kilometer (1,370-mile) border, which is crisscrossed by guerrillas and drug traffickers.

The most recent incident was in November last year and also involved the Tibu region.

Colombia's right-wing President Ivan Duque is a vocal critic of far-left Venezuela counterpart Nicolas Maduro and has denounced his "dictatorship."

Earlier this month, Maduro accused Duque's predecessor Juan Manuel Santos of being behind an alleged attempt to assassinate him during a military parade in Caracas.

Colombia has been swamped by a flood of migrants streaming over the border to flee an economic crisis that has left food and medicine shortages following four years of recession.

More than a million Venezuelans have entered Colombia in just the last 16 months.

Maduro, though, accuses his neighbor of sheltering his political opponents.

Following the statement, Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza said on Twitter that his country "won't stop its efforts to protect its population and expel from its territory the plague of Colombian violence and drug-trafficking." </s> Nuestra cadena aliada en Colombia, Noticias RCN, reveló un video del momento exacto en el que dos helicópteros militares venezolanos entran en territorio colombiano. Las imágenes hacen parte de las pruebas del Gobierno colombiano, que envió una nota formal de protesta a Venezuela por la violación a la soberanía.

La grabación registra el momento en el que un helicóptero Bell 412 sobrevuela la vereda Vetas de Oriente en zona rural de Tibú, en Norte de Santander, noreste de Colombia.

En el video se aprecia a la aeronave realizar un sobrepaso sobre el lugar. Al fondo se visualiza un segundo helicóptero volando en círculos sobre la zona. Ambos estaban identificados con las siglas de la Guardia Nacional Bolivariana.

Por su parte, en un comunicado el Gobierno venezolano calificó de “falso positivo” la incursión aérea.

Redacción NTN24

¡Suscríbete a nuestro canal en YouTube aquí: https://www.youtube.com/ntn24! </s> Colombia issued a strong protest Tuesday over what it said was a border incursion by Venezuelan helicopters and troops over the weekend.

The government of President Ivan Duque said it sent a strongly-worded protest to the Venezuelan ambassador over what it claimed was a “violation of Colombia’s sovereignty” in Norte Santander department on Sunday.

“Two helicopters, identified with the initials of the Bolivarian National Guard and about 30 armed personnel belonging to the Bolivarian National Armed Forces of Venezuela” landed in the border region of Tibu, the foreign ministry said.

The ministry said it sent a note “expressing the strongest protest” to the Venezuelan ambassador in Bogota.

The South American neighbors have locked horns in recent years over similar incidents along their 2,200-kilometer (1,370-mile) border crisscrossed by guerrillas and drug traffickers.

The most recent incident was in November last year and also involved the Tibu region.

Like his predecessor Juan Manuel Santos, Duque has branded Venezuela a “dictatorship” under President Nicolas Maduro.

Earlier this month, Maduro accused Santos of being behind an alleged attempt to assassinate him during a military parade in Caracas.

Hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans fleeing the economic crisis in their home country have taken refuge in Colombia, which Maduro has also accused of sheltering his opponents.

Colombia urged Peru and Ecuador to coordinate their immigration policies to deal with an influx of Venezuelan migrants.
In response to the Venezuelan Bolivarian National Guard's armed infiltration of Norte de Santander, Colombia four days ago, Venezuela releases a statement calling it "supposed" and "fake news", despite clear video of Venezuelan helicopters in Colombian territory.