Attack on Colombian guerrilla camp in Venezuela makes several dead

Um bombing attributed to the Venezuelan army against a Colombian guerrilla camp ELN in Venezuelan territory caused several deaths, the non-governmental organization Fundaredes told AFP on Saturday.

Fundaredes shared with AFP a video in which several bodies are scattered across the ground, falling trees and the ruins of what appears to be a camp in a wooded countryside in Apure, near the border with Colombia.

According to the NGO, the images date from Friday, October 30.

Contacted by AFP, the Venezuelan authorities did not respond immediately.

According to the director of Fundaredes, Javier Tarazona, one of his collaborators counted nine corpses, which was the “first bombing of Venezuela against the ELN,” the continent’s most powerful active guerrilla after the disarmament of most Colombian FARC in 2016.

According to Fundaredes and the human rights activist and expert in military affairs Rocío San Miguel, information collected from inhabitants of the region accounts for about another dozen ELN deaths.

According to the sources, the bombing took place in the Buena Vista del Meta area of Apure, which borders the Colombian department of Vichada.

“ The inhabitants of the area reported the attack, reported the deaths” and stated that the victims were ELN members, Rocío San Miguel told AFP.

“There’s a lot of fear in the area” because “people are under enormous pressure from the ELN guerrilla,” he added.

In addition to the ELN, other armed groups are active along the 2,219 kilometers border between Colombia and Venezuela, as dissident factions of the former FARC guerrilla, who face each other for the important revenues of drug trafficking and illegal mining.

Bogota has long accused Venezuelan authorities of sheltering the illegal forces operating in Colombia.

With the support of the United States, Colombian President Abelardo De la Espriella leads a military offensive against the armed groups that are financed through drug trafficking in Colombia.

Venezuela also aligned itself with Washington's interests after the overthrow and capture of President Nicolás Maduro during an American operation in January.