Five Colombians and a Venezuelan were found murdered in a river in the Venezuelan state of Barinas on Monday. The massacre of the Colombians is the second in the neighboring country in a week.
According to Lina Davila, wife of one of the victims, the five Colombians who travelled to Venezuela on July 31, were all merchants engaged in trade, reported Colombian media on Tuesday.
Authorities have confirmed that the circumstances are strange as apparenlty, none of victims family members reported them as missing. It is also alleged that the victims had initially been buried in an unmarked grave in Venezuela and it is as of yet unknown why their naked bodies turned up dumped in the river near the Barinas town of Socopo.
The Colombian Consul in Venezuela is investigating the discovery but has not released any information on the subject.
This gruesome series of murders comes a matter of days after the discovery of the bodies of 11 murdered amateur footballers, among them eight Colombians, who were kidnapped near the Venezuelan – Colombian border on October 11.
Colombia’s President Alvaro Uribe has requested that he and his Venezuelan counterpart, Hugo Chavez, implement ‘life-saving’ measures to ensure the safety of the populations living near to the countries binational borderline.