Colombia deploys 14,000 troops to restive region bordering Venezuela
Colombia has deployed thousands of troops to a restive region in the country’s north near the border with Venezuela in a declared attempt to bolster government control of the area, which is a hotspot of activity by criminal groups and drug traffickers.
Colombian President Ivan Duque announced on Wednesday that 14,000 soldiers had been stationed in the northeastern Province of Norte de Santander, where multiple armed groups compete for control of cocaine production, marking the largest deployment in the country’s recent history.
Duque said the new unit’s mission would be to combat drug trafficking, terrorism, and organized crime funding.
The new unit will also purportedly confront armed groups from Colombia’s last remaining rebel group, the National Liberation Army (ELN), and dissident FARC guerrillas, who have rejected a 2016 peace deal with the government, as well as criminal groups, including the Clan del Gulfo, which compete to control crops of coca, the chief ingredient of cocaine.
According to the Colombian government, the deployment would be accompanied by investments to tackle poverty and substitution and eradication programs to eliminate illegal crops.
Norte de Santander is one of Colombia’s most volatile regions and the site of recent high-profile attacks. Back in June, a car bomb explosion hit a military base in the province’s capital, Cucuta, wounding at least 36 people.
Violence has recently increased in Colombia, driven by an estimated 2,500 opposition fighters from the FARC fighting over drug trafficking routes and illegal mining locations with the ELN and other militant groups.
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