Alleged Colombian paramilitaries attacked a military police post across the border in Venezuela, according to the local governor.
According to the governor of the southern Venezuelan state of Tachira, Jose Gregorio Vielma, the attack by “presumed paramilitaries” was carried out in the early morning hours on Sunday and aimed to recover 40,000 liters of confiscated contraband gasoline.
The new act of aggression from the group presumably composed of Colombian paramilitaries was recorded just days after at least 14 alleged drug traffickers from Colombia were killed in a confrontation between two rival drug trafficking organizations across the border.
MORE: 14 killed in combat between Colombia drug gangs on Venezuela border
“This new upsurge in Colombian armed groups on Venezuelan soil is proof of an increased mobilization of the paramilitaries in the border region,” said Vielma Mora.
Former Venezuelan vice-president Jose Vincent Rangel, who informed last week that the military intelligence had gathered information on the rising activity of paramilitary groups on the border.
Rangel warned the authorities and the national army to be prepared for confrontation, blaming Colombian authorities of ignoring of groups formed from now-defunct paramilitary organization AUC.
“Rangel is right when he’s talking about the expansion of new paramilitary formations and the neglect of the problem on the part of Colombian authorities,” continued Vielma Mora, who implied the United States, “the Empire,” is behind the alleged increase in paramilitary activity.
“There is a new paramilitary bloc getting ready to take over Venezuela. The empire is preparing to gain control over Tachira. If we’re not here in force, we could lose the state,” insisted the governor.
Venezuela and Colombia share more than 2.200 kilometers of disputed land border. Various criminal gangs involved in contraband, kidnappings and drug-trafficking, among other crimes, operate in the area.
Sources
- Paramilitares atacan puesto militar venezolano y uno queda herido (Cable Noticias)
- Nuevo ataque de presuntos paramilitares contra la GNB en García de Hevia (Tachira state government)
- Vienen los paramilitares (TalCualDigital)