Negroponte denounced for 'criminal record'

Venezuelan Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro attacked US Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte on June 3, calling him a "petty official with a criminal record."At the annual meeting of the General Assembly of the Organization of American States (OAS) in the Colombian city of Medellin, Maduro accused Negroponte of being "responsible for disappearances, for tortures and for deaths in Central America and in several parts of the world." He further termed him a "character of the worst kind." Maduro was reacting to comments by Negroponte, who on June 2 called upon Venezuela to actively combat the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) that "have sought sanctuary" in its territory. Maduro accused Negroponte of seeking to "drive the wedge of intrigue" at the Medellin gathering and to determine the agenda of the meeting. The Venezuelan minister interpreted that the United States was upset about the meeting that Maduro held Monday with Colombian Foreign Minister Fernando Araujo, who sought to revamp bilateral ties following a severe crisis. "This petty official has no moral quality to talk about any issues in our continent, and neither does the United States," Maduro complained. He went as far as to say that the US government is "behind the political operation, the show that is being staged around the computers" found in a Colombian cross-border raid on a FARC camp on Ecuadorian territory on Mar. 1. The raid has been a constant topic at the general assembly meeting, which started on June 1 and was set to end on June 3. According to Colombian officials, the contents of the computers reveal ties between the Venezuelan government and FARC. "We call to the conscience of the Colombian people, of the Colombian government, to realize that behind this campaign there is only one objective: to divide us, to confront us against each other, to create a conflict," Maduro said. At one time Negroponte was considered to be a controversial diplomat, particularly when he served as US ambassador to Honduras in the 1980s. During that time he was accused of willfully ignoring massive human rights abuses in that country which was used as a launchpad for the United States' illegal funding and training of Contra fighters in nearby Nicaragua. Negroponte was also implicated in facilitating intelligence and training for the Contras as well as Honduran death squads, both of which were found to have committed gross human rights violations such as abductions, torture, rapes and massacres.