Colombia militarizes Cúcuta, on the border with Venezuela, after the murder of a mayoral candidate

Bogotá — Colombian President Abelardo de la Espriella ordered the temporary “militarization” of Cúcuta, a city on the border with Venezuela, following a series of recent violent incidents linked to criminal groups, including the murder of a mayoral candidate.

In Cúcuta, capital of the department of Norte de Santander, mayoral candidate Miguel Castellanos was murdered and an explosives attack left four police officers injured, according to the local government. De la Espriella ordered “the immediate militarization of Cúcuta” and added: “It will be temporary, while we restore public order.”

The measure involves the deployment of a still-unspecified number of police and military personnel in the city. It is the second time the president has ordered an operation of this kind since taking office on August 7: the first “militarization” took place in the coastal city of Santa Marta, in September, after a series of violent attacks on businesses and vehicles carried out by a drug trafficking gang.

Along the porous 2,200 kilometers of border between Colombia and Venezuela, several armed groups operate, involved in drug trafficking, illegal mining and smuggling, such as dissidents of the former Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and the National Liberation Army (ELN), according to the report.

Across the border, the governor of the Venezuelan state of Táchira, Freddy Bernal, advised citizens to avoid “unnecessary” travel to Cúcuta, while Colombian authorities carry out the security deployment in the border area.

Photo: Prensa Mercosur

Source: Prensa Mercosur