Colombian neo-paramilitary groups have extended their influence along the Venezuelan border, engaging in drug trafficking and forging links with local criminal gangs, reported El Espectador Monday.
Groups such as Los Urabeños and the Aguilas Negras, all previously part of the AUC paramilitary organization, have encroached into Venezuela, creating a “bi-national conflict,” according to an official in the northwest Venezuelan state of Tachira.
Director of Tachira State Police Jesus Berro described the situation as “a real ongoing slaughter,” with 20 people killed in recent weeks.
“Terror is the method by which these groups try to silence people, threatening their lives if they do no cooperate,” he said, before calling on the governments of Colombia and Venezuela to “establish arrangements to combat these activities.”
The Venezuelan border is known to be of strategic importance because it is a thoroughfare for chemicals used in the manufacture and processing of cocaine. Interception by security forces is difficult because the border is over 2,000 km long.
Demobilization of the AUC began in 2003, with over 30,000 militants handing over arms by 2006 — but many successor groups are still in operation.
The U.N. estimated that, while it was active, the AUC was responsible for 80% of human rights abuses in Colombia.
