'Reason for US note on troops to Colombia unknown'

By Diyar Guldogan</p> <p>ANKARA (AA) – Colombia has no knowledge of the import of the words &quot;5,000 troops to Colombia&quot; seen scribbled on a pad used by the U.S. national security advisor, the country's foreign minister has said.</p> <p>&quot;Regarding the mention of Colombia in the notebook that Mr. [National Security Advisor John] Bolton had in his hands, the scope and reason for the annotation is unknown,&quot; Carlos Holmes Trujillo was quoted as saying in a statement late Monday.</p> <p>Trujillo's remarks followed a press briefing on new sanctions on Venezuela where Bolton was seen holding a yellow legal pad with the handwritten words &quot;5,000 troops to Colombia.&quot;</p> <p>Bolton Monday announced that the U.S. blacklisted Venezuela's state-owned oil and natural gas company PDVSA as it continues to ramp up economic and diplomatic pressure on Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.</p> <p>The economic salvo comes after Venezuelan National Assembly President Juan Guaido declared himself interim president last week under Articles 333 and 350 of the Venezuelan Constitution.</p> <p>The U.S., Canada, and many Latin American nations were quick to recognize Guaido's claim, as Maduro quickly lashed out, calling on Washington to withdraw its diplomats from Venezuela.</p> <p> </p> <p>