Skip Nav | Home | Mobile | Editorial Guidelines | Mission Statement | About Us | Contact | Help | Security | Support Us

World

Tension in the Colombian-Venezuelan Border Region

Jeremy Le Page | 10.06.2003 06:08 | Venezuela | Globalisation | World

TORONTO (NFTF.org) -- The treacherous jungle that forms the border between Colombia and Venezuela is as dangerous as ever with the presence of guerilla warriors, drug traffickers and paramilitary units.

The situation is the result of a 40-year-old civil war in Colombia that often spills across the porous borders into the nation's neighboring countries. The conflict, which kills thousands of Colombians every year, pits together armed leftist guerillas, right-wing groups, drug traffickers, and an organized U.S. War on Drugs intervention program.

Recently, links between guerilla forces and the Venezuelan military have been reported by Colombian security agencies.

Members of the Venezuelan Bolivarian Liberation Forces (FBL) are currently undergoing military training at a center in the country's Zulia state, the South American nation's media says. Five camps have been installed, sources state, adding ties between the Venezuelan military and the rebel Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC) have been strengthened.

A clash between the Colombian paramilitary and FARC is also said to have occurred in March, in which FARC was supported by several Venezuelan armored helicopters and airplanes. Although government opposition condemned the military action by Venezuela, the government said Colombia has failed to control its borders, and is allowing the nation's conflict to extend into Venezuela.

Reports suggest that the FARC 33rd Front camp has been relocated near the Lora River, just over two hours away from Rio de Oro, in the Venezuelan Zulia State. Sources suggest about 200 men from the Bolivarian forces participated in the clashes with the Colombian paramilitary. The Rio de Oro area is being used by rebel forces as a planning and rest area, suggests the report.

Media sources also indicate poor Venezuelan and Colombian refugees are welcoming the guerrillas, who have had a presence in the area for several years. Sources estimate about 300,000 Colombians have crossed into Ecuador, Panama and Venezuela in the last four years alone.

And assistance from human rights groups within Colombia has been limited. States Amnesty International: "Colombia's human rights community has long been a target of threats, violence, and murder. Between 1996 and 2001, there were 68 attacks on human rights defenders: 54 assassinations and 14 'disappearances.'"

YellowTimes.org correspondent Jeremy Le Page drafted this report.

Jeremy Le Page
- Homepage: http://www.NewsFromTheFront.org

Comments

Display the following comment

  1. Lets Wake Up to this Situation Now. — Maddy

Publish

Publish your news

Do you need help with publishing?

/regional publish include --> /regional search include -->

World Topics

Afghanistan
Analysis
Animal Liberation
Anti-Nuclear
Anti-militarism
Anti-racism
Bio-technology
Climate Chaos
Culture
Ecology
Education
Energy Crisis
Fracking
Free Spaces
Gender
Globalisation
Health
History
Indymedia
Iraq
Migration
Ocean Defence
Other Press
Palestine
Policing
Public sector cuts
Repression
Social Struggles
Technology
Terror War
Workers' Movements
Zapatista

Kollektives

Birmingham
Cambridge
Liverpool
London
Oxford
Sheffield
South Coast
Wales
World

Other UK IMCs
Bristol/South West
London
Northern Indymedia
Scotland

Server Appeal Radio Page Video Page Indymedia Cinema Offline Newsheet

secure Encrypted Page

You are viewing this page using an encrypted connection. If you bookmark this page or send its address in an email you might want to use the un-encrypted address of this page.

If you recieved a warning about an untrusted root certificate please install the CAcert root certificate, for more information see the security page.

IMCs


www.indymedia.org

Projects
print
radio
satellite tv
video

Africa

Europe
antwerpen
armenia
athens
austria
barcelona
belarus
belgium
belgrade
brussels
bulgaria
calabria
croatia
cyprus
emilia-romagna
estrecho / madiaq
galiza
germany
grenoble
hungary
ireland
istanbul
italy
la plana
liege
liguria
lille
linksunten
lombardia
madrid
malta
marseille
nantes
napoli
netherlands
northern england
nottingham imc
paris/île-de-france
patras
piemonte
poland
portugal
roma
romania
russia
sardegna
scotland
sverige
switzerland
torun
toscana
ukraine
united kingdom
valencia

Latin America
argentina
bolivia
chiapas
chile
chile sur
cmi brasil
cmi sucre
colombia
ecuador
mexico
peru
puerto rico
qollasuyu
rosario
santiago
tijuana
uruguay
valparaiso
venezuela

Oceania
aotearoa
brisbane
burma
darwin
jakarta
manila
melbourne
perth
qc
sydney

South Asia
india


United States
arizona
arkansas
asheville
atlanta
Austin
binghamton
boston
buffalo
chicago
cleveland
colorado
columbus
dc
hawaii
houston
hudson mohawk
kansas city
la
madison
maine
miami
michigan
milwaukee
minneapolis/st. paul
new hampshire
new jersey
new mexico
new orleans
north carolina
north texas
nyc
oklahoma
philadelphia
pittsburgh
portland
richmond
rochester
rogue valley
saint louis
san diego
san francisco
san francisco bay area
santa barbara
santa cruz, ca
sarasota
seattle
tampa bay
united states
urbana-champaign
vermont
western mass
worcester

West Asia
Armenia
Beirut
Israel
Palestine

Topics
biotech

Process
fbi/legal updates
mailing lists
process & imc docs
tech