So far 2,000 Venezuelan soldiers and police officers have been deployed in the Catatumbo area within Venezuelan territory.

On Friday, Colombian President Gustavo Petro confirmed the launch of the military operation Catatumbo Lightning, which had been announced earlier by Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.

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Venezuela Launches ‘Catatumbo Lightning’ Military Operation on Border With Colombia

“A counter-narcotics military operation has begun along the Colombia-Venezuela border. We seek cooperation between our armies in the fight against the National Liberation Army (ELN). A border free of mafias should be the ultimate goal for peace, sovereignty, and population’s well-being,” Petro said.

A few hours earlier, the Venezuelan president stated that the Catatumbo Lightning operation covers the northern regions of Tachira state, bordering Colombia’s Norte de Santander province. “We have already coordinated with President Gustavo Petro’s government. We are also working on a binational development initiative, bringing together the peoples of Colombia and Venezuela,” Maduro said.

On January 24, the defense ministers of both countries, Ivan Velasquez (Colombia) and Vladimir Padrino Lopez (Venezuela), met to discuss Catatumbo’s humanitarian crisis. The meeting took place in San Cristobal, in the Venezuelan state of Tachira, where they analyzed the situation caused by the ELN in Catatumbo. This was the first meeting between high-ranking officials from both countries since Maduro began his third presidential term on January 20.

Since January 16, the Catatumbo region has been the scene of violent clashes between the ELN and the 33rd Front of the now-defunct Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). So far, the confrontations between irregular armed groups have resulted in at least 80 deaths and around 50,000 displaced people, prompting the Colombian government to declare a “State of Internal Disturbance.”

The Venezuelan president stated that the military cooperation at the border is aimed at achieving “binational, integrated, economic, and social development with a deeply humanitarian and unifying approach between our peoples.”

Details of Catatumbo Lightning were provided by Venezuela’s Citizen Security Minister, Diosdado Cabello, who reported that approximately 2,000 Venezuelan soldiers and police officers have already been deployed in the Catatumbo area within Venezuelan territory.

“This action is taking place due to counterintelligence investigations and reports of paramilitary incursions in the area,” he said, recalling that Venezuela is under siege by imperialist forces.

“The mercenaries we have captured confessed that a paramilitary group, sent by Ivan Duque and Alvaro Uribe, was planning to enter through this area,” Cabello explained, revealing that Venezuelan authorities have so far captured about 200 mercenaries.

“Catatumbo is a region divided between Colombia and Venezuela. In our territory, nothing is happening. Venezuela is securing its borders,” he stated, emphasizing that the violence in Colombian territory was fueled by former President Alvaro Uribe, known for his ties to far-right paramilitary groups.

teleSUR/ JF Sources: EFE – VTV

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