The Venezuelan president has warned this Sunday that the Bolivarian National Armed Forces (FANB) will intensify its operations to contain incursions and attacks by paramilitaries operating from Colombia and has asked for "zero tolerance" in regards to Colombian armed groups that cross the border, "whatever they are."
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"Zero tolerance regarding Colombian armed groups entering Venezuelan territory. We have already contributed enough with peace, and the Colombian oligarchy is very ungrateful. We are going all out," Maduro asserted in a televised intervention.
The head of state also said that the Venezuelan Armed Forces carried out operations in the border area with Colombia, intending to repel such armed groups penetrating Venezuelan soil.
"We are protecting the border since the abandonment by the Colombian government causes armed groups to pass this way and that way. The Bolivarian Shield plan is active", he pointed out.
President Maduro Declares ‘Zero Tolerance’ for Colombian Armed Incursions into Venezuela https://t.co/IW5idN6R6X
— Orinoco Tribune (@OrinocoTribune) March 22, 2021
Relations between Colombia and Venezuela have deteriorated considerably in recent years. Bogota seconded the U.S. in its decision to recognize Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó, who proclaimed himself in January 2019 "interim president" of the Bolivarian Republic.
However, tensions flared up in early May 2020, when the Venezuelan government stopped and captured all paramilitary forces in an attempted terrorist attack through the sea, organized and financed by Washington and Bogota to "assassinate" Maduro.
Likewise, Caracas accuses Bogota of training "mercenaries and terrorists" to enter Venezuela to overthrow Maduro, who, given such a situation, has decreed several times an orange alert on the Colombian-Venezuelan border and has ordered a military deployment in the area to defend the Bolivarian country.
#FromTheSouth News Bits | Colombia's Attorney General confirmed that the failed maritime incursion through La Guaira on May 3, 2020 to overthrow Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro, "Gideon Operation," was planned in Bogota by Venezuelan Army ex-officer Cliver Alcala. pic.twitter.com/DnyPSqBQz7
— teleSUR English (@telesurenglish) March 17, 2021