Seven dead and the silence of the regime: what remains of the fight between the Venezuelan army, guerrillas and paramilitaries

32 days have pbaded since March 16, there was a terrible confrontation in the sectors "Shell Group"and"The pica pica"on the road to Via Pampanito in the state of Zulia, without the Bolivarian national armed forces have given explanations to the country, let alone the peoples who have lived hours of terror, because at 11 o'clock in the morning guerrillas and paramilitaries attacked for control of the area.

Neighbors say that one side was the Venezuelan Army with the National Liberation Army (ELN)and the other paramilitary. This is not the first time that the armed forces have collaborated with the Colombian guerrillas.

This is also not the first time that bloodthirsty paramilitaries intended to take control of the territory in this strategic area of ​​the country. There is no official report on the number of deaths. The only thing that is sure is that over there, on this hot land, Seven bodies were left on public roads which communicates with Encondos Santa Bárbara, just a few kilometers from the town of Encontrados, specifically Sector Y. In the city, there are those who say that these bodies belong to paramilitaries.

It was a whole day of confrontationwhich lasted until 7 pm amidst the terror of the people who heard the loud bangs. They said that the navy had used two tanks in combat.

It is already several times that Colombian paramilitaries and guerrillas clash on Venezuelan territory, trying to maintain the supremacy of the so-called Death corridor, route of drug trafficking, in the axis of municipalities Catatumbo, Jesús María Semprún, Colón and Francisco Javier Pulgar of the tanker and the border state of Zulia.

A few days before the confrontation of March 16, three teenagers were kidnapped in Catatumbo, executed and thrown into the camellon of La Conquista, in the municipality of Colón del Zulia.

Officials of Police Station 11.4, Catatumbo Norte, with the support of the Catatumbo (Policat) Municipal Police and the Scientific, Criminal and Investigative Investigation Corps (CICPC), have verified that they were left on the side of the road and who presented several bullet impacts.

The next day at dawn, Zulia's police chief, Giovanny Garcia, was charged with prosecuting the seven dead. The minutes of the police simply said that they were "7 unidentified citizens, killed by means of a firearm in the parish of Found, municipality of Catatumbo"No aggressor to identify.

On behalf of the body of scientific and criminal investigations, was added detective Cristian Peña, with 6 vehicles.

The CICPC reported receiving information from the Catatumbo police on the 7 alleged deaths. "When we arrived on the site, there was a municipal police commission where we were interviewed by the Chief Officer (CPBEZ), José Ángel Muñoz, General Manager of the Bolivian Municipal Police of Catatumbo, who was at the place commanded by 10 municipal policemen and informed that they were waiting for the commission of the sub-delegation of CICPC, San Carlos del Zulia.

The fight for the territory

At the end of January of last year, in the sector Pampanito and Guasimales (respectively 30 minutes and one hour of Encondos), once again an in-depth fight took place between irregular and paramilitary armed guerrillas.

Around 3 o'clock in the afternoon, filming began. When that happens, the people of the village are quickly hidden and a ghostly shadow covers the city of Encondos and its surroundings.

The "black boots", as locals call the guerrillas men of the National Liberation Army (ELN), they face from time to time with the paramilitarieswho insist on taking control of Venezuelan territory.

On this occasion, the filming is extended until 10:30 in the evening.. As was the case a few days ago, there are still very few deaths. In January 2018, the bodies were buried, according to the inhabitants of the city, on the banks of Caiman Cañon.

The Scientific and Criminal Investigation Body (CICPC) spoke of 8 dead paramilitaries and he took them to the village of Encondos in the drawer of the moving van so that the villagers can see them, in a silent and threatening message.

On June 7, 2018, one of the bloodiest clashes between ELN members and guerrillas took place in the La Cruz de Encontrados neighborhood and on the road to Pampanito (state of Zulia). On this occasion, one of the members died during the ELN, nicknamed "Besito".

And, as always, the Bolivarian national armed forces were silent, while their main responsibility was to defend territory and sovereignty.