Colombia sends army to fight guerillas on Venezuela border

Colombia has launched a military offensive against leftist guerillas blamed for a week of bloody violence on the border with Venezuela, Defense Minister Ivan Velasquez said Friday.

“There has already been a first battle between the army and members of the National Liberation Army (ELN)… The order is to take over the territory,” Velasquez said from the border city of Cucuta, adding that more than 9,000 troops are deployed in the area.

Colombia is struggling to contain violence in the mountainous northeastern Catatumbo region, where a 5,800-strong ELN has targeted rival armed groups and their alleged sympathizers.

The ELN is trying to assert control over a swath of the border region that is home to plantations and trafficking routes that provide much of the world’s cocaine.

The offensive has killed at least 80 people, while dozens more have been kidnapped and tens of thousands have been displaced, according to government and United Nations estimates.

Colombian President Gustavo Petro said Thursday that he had been in contact with the Venezuelan government, floating a “joint plan to eradicate armed gangs on the border.”

Petro’s decision to engage with President Nicolas Maduro’s government so soon after it was accused of stealing another election from the democratic opposition is likely to provoke anger.

Defence Minister Velasquez said he had met with his Venezuelan counterpart, Vladimir Padrino, in the Venezuelan city of San Cristobal, for discussions aimed at improving security cooperation.

Colombia’s intelligence agencies allege the ELN has long received backing and protection from Venezuela, with some of the group’s leaders believed to live across the border.

For its part, Venezuela has accused Colombia of providing “shelter” to leaders of the Tren de Aragua — one of Venezuela’s biggest gangs, with an estimated 5,000 members operating across Latin America.

The group engages in migrant smuggling, drug trafficking, kidnappings and racketeering and has been targeted by President Donald Trump for inclusion on the US list of terror groups.

So far Colombia has responded to the border crisis by declaring a state of emergency, suspending ELN peace talks, reinstating arrest warrants against its leaders and deploying more soldiers to the area.

The surge in violence has plunged Colombia into one of its worst security crises in years while shattering government hopes of peacefully disarming one of the country’s most powerful militias.