Posted on 03/27/2002 4:49:26 AM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
CARACAS, Venezuela (Reuters) - The U.S. government is warning its citizens to avoid traveling to Venezuela's western border with Colombia because of the risk of kidnapping by Colombian "terrorist groups," the U.S. Embassy in Caracas said on Tuesday.
The warning indicated that Colombian leftist rebels, which Washington categorizes as "terrorists," were capable of operating across the border in Venezuelan territory, despite strenuous Venezuelan government denials of their presence.
A State Department travel advisory for Venezuela said the risk was particularly high in the southern Venezuelan jungle state of Amazonas, where the department had received "credible information that Colombian terrorist groups are increasingly targeting U.S. citizens" for kidnapping.
"The embassy recommends that United States citizens avoid travel to Amazonas State, and to any area within 50 miles along the Venezuelan border with Colombia until further notice," the statement said.
An embassy spokeswoman told Reuters she could not give details about the basis for the warning but said the information received was reliable.
The United States, which is waging a global war against terrorism following the Sept. 11 attacks in New York and Washington, has classified Colombia's left-wing guerrilla groups and right-wing paramilitaries as "terrorist" organizations.
The U.S. warning followed reports of heavy fighting on one section of the Colombian-Venezuelan border last week between Colombian government troops and rebels from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, known by the Spanish acronym FARC.
The fighting around the border village of Tibu, in which 21 rebels and 17 troops were killed, sparked an angry exchange between Colombia and Venezuela after a Colombian army general said the rebels were operating out of a camp inside Venezuela.
Venezuelan ministers angrily denied this allegation as "insulting" and accused Colombian military commanders of trying to make excuses for tactical mistakes on the battlefield.
However, Venezuelan authorities over the weekend deported back to Colombia a Colombian national suspected of extortion and collaborating with left-wing guerrilla groups in the neighboring Andean country.
The suspect, known as "Comandante Giovanni," was handed over to Colombian security officers after he was detained by Venezuela's National Guard last week in Sanariapo, a remote border settlement in Venezuela's Amazonas state.
Venezuelan media reports said the real name of "Comandante Giovanni" was Franklin Rincon Perez, 45, and that he was a leading member of the FARC's No. 16 combat front operating along the border with Amazonas.
Venezuelan officials did not confirm this identity.
Venezuela has reinforced military patrols and garrisons along its 1,380-mile western border following the renewal of hostilities last month between the Colombian government and the Marxist guerrillas of the FARC.
"Yes, logically we are worried," Pastrana told reporters in Lima in answer to a question about the attack, in which 38 Colombian troops and rebels from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, died in clashes.
It was the heaviest death toll in an attack since peace talks with the Colombian Marxist rebels collapsed last month. End Excerpt]
Venezuelans Protest Kidnappings (Chavez suspends gun licenses--threats to jail militiamen) [Full Text] CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) - Hundreds of Venezuelans marched through the capital on Saturday to protest the growing number of kidnappings in this increasingly violent South American nation. Brandishing signs reading ``Stop Kidnappings Now'' and ``We Want To Live In Peace,'' the protesters demanded tougher government action against kidnapping and the swift return of missing loved ones.
``We can no longer remain silent. We are constantly at the mercy of delinquents,'' said Carmen Tamayo, an office worker. ``Something must be done because nobody should have to live like this.'' Forty-one people were reported kidnapped in Venezuela during the first six months of this year, compared to 39 kidnappings reported in all of 2000. Seventeen Venezuelan kidnap victims are currently being held for ransom.
``The number of kidnappings is undoubtedly on the rise. That's why we are here demanding that the government take immediate action,'' said Jose Luis Betancourt, president of the National Ranchers' Federation.
Ranchers living along the country's remote 1,400-mile border with Colombia face the constant threat of kidnapping and extortion by Colombia's leftist guerrillas who can cross the border. Common criminals and gangs often cooperate with rebels.
Earlier this year cattlemen proposed forming private militias to fend off local criminals and rebels from neighboring Colombia. The idea was abandoned as President Hugo Chavez suspended the issuance of new gun licenses and threatened to jail would-be militiamen. [End] …July 15, 2001
I think we can walk and chew gum at the same time.
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