Colombian Armed Group Destroys Toll Booth on Border With Venezuela
The toll booth at Villa Del Rosario, Colombia. Feb. 20, 2025. X/ @Marovaan
February 20, 2025 Hour: 8:17 am
It is suspected that the attacks may have been carried out by the National Liberation Army (ELN).
In the early hours of Thursday, members of irregular Colombian armed groups destroyed with explosives the toll booth located on the international highway connecting Cucuta, Colombia, with San Antonio del Tachira, Venezuela.
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The attack included gunfire directed at police posts and left five people injured, three of whom are workers from the National Institute of Roads and two security guards at the toll booth in Villa del Rosario, in the department of Norte de Santander, where Colombia’s main border crossing with Venezuela is located.
“The toll booth was completely destroyed,” said Norte de Santander’s Secretary of Citizen Security, George Quintero, who offered a reward of $25,000 to find those responsible for the violent acts.
Almost simultaneously, a police post located at the Historic Temple, in front of the Birthplace of General Francisco de Paula Santander—one of the leaders of Colombia’s independence—was attacked with gunfire, as was the La Parada police station, which is currently under construction, also in Villa del Rosario.
No authority has confirmed responsibility for these attacks, although it is suspected that they may have been carried out by the National Liberation Army (ELN) guerrilla group, which operates in the region and in recent days has placed bomb-laden cylinders on some roads in Norte de Santander.
This wave of violence comes a day after several governors urged Colombian President Gustavo Petro to address the worsening armed conflict in various parts of the country.
“There is a very complicated perception in the country regarding security,” said William Villamizar, governor of Norte de Santander, where Catatumbo is located. For more than a month, this region has been the scene of an ELN offensive against a dissident faction of the now-defunct Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), resulting in at least 63 deaths and more than 50,000 displaced people.
Villamizar, speaking on behalf of his fellow governors from Colombia’s 32 departments, called for “strengthening intelligence and the work of the Military Forces” by increasing troop presence in various regions.
The same concern was expressed by El Choco Governor Nubia Cordoba as in her department the ELN is engaged in clashes with the Gulf Clan, Colombia’s largest criminal organization. As of last week, these confrontations had displaced around 3,600 people and left more than 12,000 confined.
“I have raised my voice in recent days on behalf of the department of Choco and its communities because this is a true humanitarian crisis and a matter of international humanitarian law,” she stated.
