Nicolás Maduro’s regime accuses FARC of planting anti-personnel mines on Venezuelan territory

The Venezuelan authorities denounced this Wednesday that the dissident guerrillas of the FARC, in the face of Chavez’s forces in recent days, they lay anti-personnel mines on the territory of Venezuela.

José María Romero, mayor of the municipality of Páez de Apure, on the border with Colombia, said that the armed dissidents “had the audacity to place anti-personnel mines which claimed the lives of our FANB soldiers” (Bolivarian National Armed Force). And he added: “We understand that these operations generate anxiety, discomfort, even excess, of which we are vigilant, but in these circumstances the duty of all Venezuelans, whatever their color, is to remain united around national sovereignty “.

So far, the clashes have left two soldiers dead on the Venezuelan side.

“They hit a drug trafficking structure which has planted landmines to affect the population”

The version was reaffirmed by Héctor Orlando Zambrano, a Chavist MP from the Apure state, who said: “A sector is being hit, a drug trafficking structure that has placed mines in the territory to reach the population.” His message was transmitted through the Twitter account of the regime’s Defense Minister, Vladimir Padrino, aware of these versions.

The stockpiling and use of anti-personnel mines is prohibited by the Ottawa Convention, signed by Venezuela in 1999. Until now, the country has been declared free of mines on its territory. This is not the case with Colombia, which signed the treaty, but which has experienced decades-long internal conflict against armed groups.

Due to the fighting that has been taking place since Sunday in the Venezuelan state of Apure, on the border with the Colombian department of Arauca, “more than 3,100 people have had to be forcibly displaced to find protection,” warned on Wednesday. Colombian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The Colombian Ombudsman’s office has set up a humanitarian commission in Arauquita, a town next to La Victoria in Venezuela, across the border, to help the thousands of people who have arrived in this region since Monday and are in dire straits. temporary shelters.

The Colombian government has repeatedly indicated that Nicolás Maduro’s regime protects ELN leaders and FARC dissidents which rejected the peace agreement signed in November 2016.

The military institution explained in a statement that “Clashes took place with irregular Colombian armed groups”, which resulted in the deaths of soldiers and, further, “as a result of these meetings, one of the leaders known as alias El Nando was neutralized.”

After the fighting, the Venezuelan authorities captured 32 more people, although their identity or nationality is not known, they destroyed six camps in the area and seized a hitherto unknown quantity of weapons, ammunition, explosives, war supplies, vehicles and drugs.

In addition, Venezuelan NGO Fundaredes denounced the continuation of clashes in Apure, where suspected FARC dissidents affected the electrical structure of the La Victoria sector and attacked military installations with explosives.

Colombia and Venezuela share a 2,219-kilometer border, but their diplomatic relations have been severed since February 23, 2019 by order of Maduro, after an attempt by opposition leader Juan Guaidó to cross the border from the Colombian city of Cúcuta in front of a humanitarian. aid caravan.

(With information from EFE)

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