Venezuela has severed relations with its neighbor Colombia and has expelled all diplomats from its embassy, President Nicolas Maduro has declared, during a rally in Caracas.

Maduro had earlier closed the border with Colombia in the run-up to Saturday’s attempts by the opposition to deliver trucks of ‘humanitarian aid’ from Colombia, in defiance of Caracas. A part of the border where a forced crossing might take place has been the scene of a tense confrontation between opposition activists and security forces all day.

Addressing a crowd of thousands of supporters, Maduro condemned his Colombian counterpart Ivan Duque for meddling in Venezuela’s internal affairs, calling him a “devil in the flesh”.

#AHORA Nicolás Maduro a Iván Duque: Eres un diablo en persona y te secarás por meterte con Venezuela #23Febhttps://t.co/wGYj1CNDEcpic.twitter.com/zBvFMcuwi4 — NTN24 Venezuela (@NTN24ve) February 23, 2019

“Patience is exhausted, I can't bear it anymore, we can't keep putting up with Colombian territory being used for attacks against Venezuela. For that reason, I have decided to break all political and diplomatic relations with Colombia's fascist government,” Maduro said, adding that the staff at the Colombian embassy has 24 hours to leave his country.

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The Venezuelan government sees the attempted delivery as a publicity stunt meant to bolster the opposition and to potentially trigger a major uprising in the country. There are also fears that the convoy may be used to smuggle weapons to arm the opposition.

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