Peace in Colombia Means Peace for Venezuela: Minister Padrino-Lopez
Venezuelan Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino-Lopez (2L). X/ @ElCuartoRoj0
January 31, 2025 Hour: 1:34 pm
Operation Catatumbo Lightning deploys over 5,000 troops across an area of approximately 10,000 km².
On Friday morning, at the start of the military operation Catatumbo Lightning, Venezuelan Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino-Lopez highlighted all the efforts that his country’s authorities have made to achieve peace in Colombia at the request of the neighboring country’s government.
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“Operation Catatumbo Lightning began with the deployment of over 5,000 troops across an area of approximately 10,000 km² and a 100 km front, covering the municipalities of Garcia de Hevia and Ayacucho (Tachira state), as well as the municipalities of Colon, Catatumbo, Semprun, and Machiques de Perija (Zulia state),” he said, emphasizing that this deployment took place under orders from Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, the commander-in-chief of the National Bolivarian Armed Forces (FANB).
As part of this military operation, the Bolivarian foreces are carrying out activities such as aerial reconnaissance, patrolling and inspections, road and critical point control, riverine security, protection of strategic facilities and essential services, destruction of drug processing camps, eradication of illicit crops, and demolition of clandestine airstrips.
Over the past three years, the FANB has monitored the Venezuela-Colombia border, achieving key results, including the seizure of 100 tons of drugs and the destruction of 47 drug trafficking logistical structures, 36 drug processing laboratories, and 71 clandestine airstrips.
Padrino-Lopez reiterated that Venezuela will defend its right to exercise sovereignty over its territory, while noting that “all vulnerabilities present at the border are backed by sectors of the transnational oligarchy.” In this regard, the Venezuelan defense minister linked former Colombian presidents Alvaro Uribe and Ivan Duque to destabilization plans that the far right seeks to implement in the region.
“We are victims of the violence carried out by armed groups that, due to the border’s permeability, move back and forth. However, thanks to the persistence and perseverance of the FANB, the citizen security forces, and the Bolivarian Militia, we are keeping all those groups at bay—groups that seek to establish themselves in Venezuelan territory to use it as a platform for drug distribution and expansion,” Padrino Lopez stated.
“Venezuelans can trust their FANB, which is executing simultaneous operations throughout the country to guarantee national sovereignty. We’ll always take a step forward in advocating for peace in Colombia because Colombian peace means peace for Venezuela and the entire region,” Padrino Lopez stressed.
teleSUR/ JF Source: VTV – teleSUR
