Venezuela sends army to border to deal with mafia

Venezuela has just sent troops to the border with Colombia and closed many border crossings to prevent smuggling and deal with the mafia.

The Venezuelan military mobilized thousands of soldiers to the border with Colombia on August 29, a day after President Nicolas Maduro announced measures to ensure security in the border area in the face of increased activities by paramilitary groups, drug traffickers and criminals from Colombia.

The Venezuelan government yesterday mobilized 3,000 soldiers to the border area with Colombia, and announced the closure of five more border crossings between the two countries.

Venezuela-Colombia border area. Photo: Venezuelaanalysis.

The decision was made in the context that the situation on the border between Venezuela and Colombia has become tense in recent days after an attack in Venezuela's Tachira state, injuring four people, including three government soldiers. Immediately, President Maduro ordered the closure of the main border gate with Colombia from August 21 and pledged to form a special force to protect people living along the border of more than 2,200 km. The Venezuelan government announced that it would not open the border with Colombia if smuggling continued, seriously affecting the country's economy.

“We will continue our efforts to build a more just and peaceful border area based on respect for the law,” said Venezuelan Foreign Minister Delcy Rodriguez. “It will no longer be a place for criminal gangs to commit crimes, but one that will be built and strengthened by the efforts of the people who live along the border, with healthy trade activities, built on our production and not on the products of criminal groups.”

Venezuela and Colombia have previously recalled their ambassadors for consultations. However, at this time, neither country has shown any intention of severing relations.

Venezuelan President Maduro said he would ask the Union of South American Nations to mediate the establishment of a truth commission to inspect the border area with Colombia to have a correct assessment of the situation, and expressed his willingness to meet his Colombian counterpart to find a solution to the current problem.

For its part, the Colombian government also said that it has no intention of cutting diplomatic relations with Venezuela and that the current instability can only be resolved through dialogue.

This is not the first time that tensions have erupted between Colombia and its neighbors over paramilitary groups, drug trafficking, and crime. In fact, Colombia’s lax border controls have long been criticized by many neighboring countries for allowing paramilitary groups and criminals from Colombia to infiltrate their countries. Colombia and Ecuador also had a dispute over border management a few years ago.

According to VOV