NGO HRW denounces Venezuela’s “aberrant abuses” on the border with Colombia

CARACAS.– Chavista forces committed “aberrant abuses” against the local population of the Apure border, which include the execution of four members of a peasant family, in addition to torture, arbitrary detentions and detention on military bases. He was accredited by Human Rights Watch (HRW) after an exhaustive investigation, in which he They overturn the revolutionary story according to which the Bolivarian National Armed Forces (FANB) are confronted with Colombian terrorists supported by Bogotá and the CIA..

“The atrocities committed against the inhabitants of Apure are not isolated incidents perpetrated by insubordinate agents, but are consistent with the systematic abuses of the security forces of Nicolás Maduro”, warned José Miguel Vivanco, director for the Americas at HRW.

The military offensive of the Chavista forces against the dissident group facing FARC commanders Iván Márquez and Jesús Santrich, allies of Maduro, began on March 21 in the border area between the Venezuelan Apure and the Colombian Arauca. Aid organizations and witnesses to the clashes confirmed to HRW that the Second Marquetalia (a group of Marquez and Santrich who returned to arms after giving up the peace process) tries to consolidate the control of drug trafficking, for which he must eliminate his enemies from the front of Villa Décimo Martín. Chavez’s forces attacked the latter.

The clashes continued yesterday, according to Javier Tarazona, director of the NGO FundaRedes, with an attack from the tenth front against Venezuelan soldiers. “Maduro is at the origin of a war against the citizen. Stop denouncing our people! “, complained the president in charge, Juan Guaidó, on their social networks.

The disputed area is the key to drug trafficking on the continent. In fact, Experts estimate that at least 150 tons of cocaine are transported there each year, produced in Colombia and with the main drug cartels in Mexico as clients. To further complicate the scenario, the guerrillas of the National Liberation Army (ELN), a consolidated partner of Chavism and which participates in Venezuela in the social control imposed by the ruling party, also has its own interests at the border, which has already caused friction with the various FARC groups.

Colombian guerrillas take advantage of the sanctuary they have built in Venezuela to violently control the daily lives of citizens on both sides of the border, where states do not seem to exist. Revolutionary trials, curfews, payment of debts and even the resolution of marital disputes are carried out by Venezuelan guerrillas. “Armed groups exercise control through threats, kidnappings, forced labor, recruitment of minors, killings and extortion in all types of economic activity,” the HRW report said.

The NGO included the analysis of two members of the Independent Forensic Panel, who agreed that the four bodies of the murdered family conformed to a pattern: lying on their backs, arms outstretched at sides, men with the naked torso and the weapons or grenades beside his right hands.

But in the case of Yanfrán Anzola (22), it was impossible for him to carry a grenade in his hand, as the photo suggests: the young man had his right humerus fractured. In addition, the two shots in the chest were fired at close range. They had also cleaned his bloodstained face. All the bodies were transferred there and similar circumstances match them all.

Neighbors confirm seeing how Special Police Force (FAES) officers detained them at their home, from which several items and a motorcycle were also stolen. The UN describes this police force, created by Maduro, as the “extermination squad” of the revolution.

HRW Report Details “Aberrant abuses” of all kinds, which with the violence of the clashes and bombings provoked the theft of at least 5,800 inhabitants of La Victoria and its surroundings, which crossed the river on the Colombian side. “The shelters are overcrowded and humanitarian aid is insufficient,” the organization concluded.