Venezuelan military kidnapped by FARC dissidents ask for the intercession of Chavismo

A new faith of life has spread this weekend about the eight Venezuelan soldiers kidnapped for a month by FARC dissidents. In the recording, Lieutenant Colonel Jhan Carlo Bemón, spokesman for the imprisoned group, reads a statement dated May 16. "This testimony and faith of life is to be grateful that the steps are diligently and as quickly as possible, and with this guarantee the security and trust that our case deserves," says Bemón. In the message they claim to have listened to the Defense Minister, Vladimir Padrino, who on Saturday May 15 acknowledged that the troops had been kidnapped by irregular groups and announced that he was making arrangements with the International Red Cross for their rescue.

The statement has an addressee: Diosdado Cabello. The second man of Chavismo, vice president of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela and retired Army captain, Cabello enjoys some ancestry within the Bolivarian Armed Forces for having participated in the military coups with Hugo Chávez in the 1990s. The kidnapped soldiers ask him to mediate in the conflict as a negotiator, despite the fact that he does not have any official position within the military structure. "I also take the opportunity to request my captain, Diosdado Cabello, to expedite the procedures so that this delivery and the release is prompt and swift," asks soldier Bemón. In the message, he assures that they want to return to their families and "put the lesson learned into practice."

Two months ago, the Venezuelan government deployed one of its largest military operations in decades to combat alleged irregular groups in the Apure region, in the south of the country, on the border with Colombia.

The fighting has generated thousands of displaced people who have crossed the border line of the Arauca River to the neighboring country, frightened by the violence, which some non-governmental organizations in the area assure has not stopped.

In the video, the kidnapped officer points out that from where they are, they have seen the return of people to their homes and workplaces, a sign that the situation is returning to normal.

The Venezuelan Army has registered at least 16 officer casualties in this conflict, however, Chavismo has handled this operation called Bolivarian Shield with great opacity.

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• Caught in the crossfire of the border between Colombia and Venezuela

In the porous Colombian-Venezuelan border, different factions of the FARC dissidents, the ELN guerrillas and other organized crime groups are fighting for control of territory and illicit businesses, according to organizations such as Crisis Group.

The group that has kidnapped the eight Venezuelan officers - whom they have described as "prisoners of war" - identified itself as part of the Tenth Front of the dissidents of the so-called FARC-EP, commanded by alias Gentil Duarte.

This fact demonstrates the control that these guerrillas have in this area in Venezuelan territory, who would be in conflict with other FARC dissidents such as the Second Marquetalia, led by Iván Márquez.

The Venezuelan government has not given more information about the case since the defense minister acknowledged the kidnapping of the officers. But a day after his statement, it was learned of the death of Jesús Santrich, Márquez's comrade in arms, in circumstances that have not yet been clarified. There is no corpse or group that claims responsibility for his death. A statement signed by the FARC-EP assures that the old guerrilla wore a cane and glasses to hide his blindness and was ambushed in the Serranía del Perijá, in Venezuelan territory, by "Colombian commandos by direct order of President Iván Duque." It is difficult to say if the supposed death of Santrich and the kidnapping of the Venezuelan military are related, but they are part of the worsening border crisis that both nations are experiencing.

Civil society organizations have insisted on the need for the United Nations to appoint a mediator for the conflict on the border, which has escalated after more than two years of total freezing of relations between the two countries and five years of totally maintaining closed the passage of vehicles and to apply intermittent blockades of official crossings, which have allowed organized crime groups to take control of trails and green roads.

This week the Colombian Foreign Ministry reported that it was studying the possibility of reopening the border with Venezuela starting in June, with special measures due to the pandemic, as part of its economic reactivation plan. This would be a relief to the thousands of people who live, work and study on both sides of the border. Freddy Bernal, who serves as representative or "protector" of the government of Nicolás Maduro in the border state of Táchira - a kind of governor in an entity where the opposition won the 2018 elections - also confirmed that talks would begin with the governor of the Norte de Santander, Silvano Serran Guerrero, for the reopening of the steps and indicated that they had requested the mediation of the Pan American Health Organization to implement this measure. "The opening will be progressive,The entire border and all bridges will not be opened 24 hours a day, ”said the Chavista leader on his radio program this week.

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