The documents leaked to Semana imply Venezuela is mainstreaming ELN and the resurgent FARC into its intelligence systems, relying on the groups to … Unported License.See Privacy Policy, Investigation and Analysis of Organized Crime, Creative Commons Attribution - Noncommercial 3.0, Sources told InSight Crime that Pablito’s ranch, the primary link between the ELN and the Maduro government, Criminal Governance Under Coronavirus: How Colombian Groups Seized the Day, More Than Drug Trafficking Drives Violence in Colombia’s Nariño, Venezuela Indigenous Communities at Risk From ELN Mining Incursions, Between Contraband and Coronavirus: Migration Dynamics at the Venezuela-Colombia Border, The ELN’s Repeated Demands for a Ceasefire in Colombia. Creative Commons Attribution - Noncommercial 3.0 Eastern Front commander and COCE member Gustavo Anibal Giraldo Quinchia, alias “Pablito,” is said to live in Apure.Sources told InSight Crime that Pablito’s ranch had been seized from its previous owners by the government. Throughout the state of Bolívar, the ELN have clashed violently with the local mining mafias known as “sindicatos,” in order to seize control of illegal mines. The National Liberation Army (Ejército de Liberación Nacional – ELN) is one of the two main guerrilla armies with left-wing political ideologies operating in Colombia. The most extensive database on organized crime in the Americas. The ELN has used Venezuelan territory at least since the 1970s, when an army push against the group in Antioquia province — Operation Anori — almost destroyed its leadership, forcing the group to move its main power base to Arauca, on the Venezuelan border. Another ELN member that may also be in Venezuela is Northeastern Front member, alias “Ariel.” It’s possible he coordinated part of the latest ELN attacks in Colombia along with Pablito. Over the last three years, the group has maintained and strengthened its presence along the Colombian border, allowing it to control cross-border drug and contraband flows and recruit new members from among Venezuelan migrants. Based on the information InSight Crime gathered, the ELN could have a presence in the states of Táchira, Zulia, Apure, Trujillo, Anzoátegui, Lara Falcón, Amazonas, Barinas, Portuguesa, Guárico and Bolívar. Meanwhile, radio stations, pamphlet distribution in schools, control points on rural roads and extortion (demanding 10 percent of production) in the mines have aided the ELN in gaining territory and power in Venezuela and, perhaps more importantly, the resources it uses to continue financing its criminal activities. The Sierra de San Luis, on the border between Lara and Falcón, is believed to be a region of strategic expansion for the group, serving as a base for clandestine airstrips and a potential springboard to the Caribbean coast. It acts as a de facto State power in its strongholds in Táchira, Apure and Amazonas – administering justice, imposing curfews and punishing those who violate its norms. This new climate, combined with increasing pressure from security forces, paramilitary groups and the FARC in Colombia, meant that the ELN’s presence in Venezuela became increasingly significant from 2000 onwards. Click here to send InSight Crime your comments. A meeting between ELN high commanders and FARC dissidents reportedly took place in October 2018, in Venezuela’s Apure state. At the same time, however, the guerrilla group’s presence in Venezuela has led Colombian President Iván Duque to intensify his pressure on the ELN by refusing to participate in peace negotiations if it continues its illegal activities. Initially a Marxist-Leninist nationalist movement, it now appears more focused on kidnapping, extortion and … But given the extent to which the ELN’s criminal empire has benefitted from Maduro’s compliant administration, the current context produces a powerful confluence between the group’s economic interests and its rhetorical position. While it is unlikely the ELN has been formally integrated into any Venezuelan defense strategy, there are signs that the Maduro government may be seeking closer collaboration with the group. The return to arms of several former FARC commanders in 2019 and the reconsolidation of ex-FARC mafia units on the Colombia-Venezuela border raises the stakes further. Eastern Front commander and COCE member Gustavo Anibal Giraldo Quinchia, alias “Pablito,” is said to live in Apure. Chávez’s rise to power and his idea of ​​a socialist model for Venezuela was the ELN’s entry point. Unconfirmed Venezuelan intelligence leaks suggest that military units are under instruction not to attack Colombian guerrilla groups on the border, but rather to provide them with logistical support. That is also the case with respect to its leadership: alias “Pablito” remains in the Apure state along with other top leaders from the National Directorate,” claimed General Navarro in an interview for Caracol Radio. We encourage readers to copy and distribute our work for non-commercial purposes, provided that it is attributed to InSight Crime in the byline, with a link to the original at both the top and bottom of the article. Pablito has long been among the E… Simultaneously, it has undertaken a precipitous expansion through the mining regions of Amazonas and Bolívar, laying claim to mineral deposits and strategic river routes. Check the Creative Commons website for more details of how to share our work, and please send us an email if you use an article. The group is able to operate with near-total impunity thanks to its close ties with the security forces and local government in some parts of Venezuela’s border region, and in the Orinoco mining arc. According to Venezuelan NGO Fundación Redes, the ELN could be receiving support from Venezuela’s armed forces in the form of weapons and entry into Venezuela.

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