Four family members of the drug trafficker who helped Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido enter Colombia have been massacred, a local investigator said Monday.
The massacre took place days after sociologist Wilfredo Cañizarez revealed images of the narcos posing with Guaido and local press began publishing evidence indicating that Venezuela’s opposition, the Colombian government and US authorities were colluding.
The investigator who has been investigating organized crime in the border area for twnty years, said Monday that “narcoparamilitaries of Los Rastrojos” tried to assassinate “Nandito,” the brother of “El Menor,” who also posed with Guaido on February 22, the day that the Venezuelan opposition leader entered Colombia.
“He was able to flee. In retaliation they assassinated four of his family members including his parents,” Cañizares said on Twitter.
Last week, the sociologist revealed images of Guaido confirming locals’ claims that Venezuela’s opposition received help from the Rastrojos to travel to Colombia and lead a failed operation to force aid sent by the US government across the border.
The United States embassy in Bogota, the White House and the Department of State have remained silent as mounting evidence indicate that the US-sponsored operation to force “humanitarian aid” into Venezuela on February 23 received coordinated support from drug traffickers.
Timeline
- February 2 – US National Security Adviser John Bolton announces that “answering the call of President Guaido, the US is mobilizing & transporting humanitarian aid for the people of Venezuela.”
- February 5 – Colombia’s Foreign Minister Carlos Holmes Trujillo travels to Washington to meet with Defense Secretary Mike Pompeo, National Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, Bolton and OAS Secretary General Luis Almagro.
- February 8 – US military aircraft deliver “humanitarian aid” to Cucuta. US Ambassador Kevin Whitaker travels to the border to join Venezuelan opposition representative Lester Toledo in a joint press conference attended by more than 150 journalists.
- February 18 – US President Donald Trump holds a media event in Miami to reiterate his support for Guaido.
- February 20 – US ambassador Kevin Whitaker meets with the representative of Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido in Bogota. On the same day, the trip is being coordinated with Guaido’s personal assistant, Roberto Marrero, according to Cucuta councilman Juan Felipe Corzo, who received the opposition candidate.
- February 21 – US Vice-President Mike Pence surprisingly announces he will visit Colombia on the 25th. Guaido announces that the “humanitarian aid” operation will take place on February 23.
- February 22 – Ringleaders of Los Rastrojos drive Guaido to the border where bodyguards and the helicopter of President Ivan Duque are waiting for him.
- February 23 – Guaido leads the failed operation to force Bolton’s “humanitarian aid” across the border. The operation left more than 280 people injured, according to Colombian authorities. In response, Maduro breaks all diplomatic ties with Colombia and the US.
- February 25 – US Vice President Mike Pence meets with Guaido and Duque in Bogota.
Venezuela’s opposition, Colombia’s narcos and the US government
Colombia’s foreign ministry on Friday denied it was involved in the operation to get Guaido to take part in the US-sponsored operation to break through the border, but this is contracted by evidence.
Local media over the weekend published evidence indicating that President Ivan Duque’s bodyguards received the Venezuelan opposition leader and that the presidential helicopter was waiting for Guaido’s arrival in Agua Clara, a major drug trafficking route.
Before that, Cañizarez had already denounced that members of Los Rastrojos ordered locals in the area to stay inside their homes on February 22, the day its members delivered Guaido to Duque’s bodyguards.
Guaido’s trip to Colombia impossible without prior agreement with narcos: report
The day after entering Colombia, Guaido tried to force trucks laden with “humanitarian aid” sent by the US government across the border.
This operation failed and, according to Colombian authorities, left more than 280 people injured.
