Colombian Troops Counter Guerrillas Crossing From Venezuela

I rode with Colombian forces the day after U.S. forces nabbed Maduro and report from the Venezuelan border

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A Colombian colonel in charge of troops on the Venezuela border was woken in the early hours on Saturday with news that U.S. planes were bombing Caracas. He was soon in a call with the Colombian minister of defense and President Gustavo Petro to plan counter maneuvers. As it emerged that U.S. special forces had nabbed President Nicolás Maduro, 30,000 Colombian soldiers and police were sent to reinforce troops on the 2,200 km (1300 mile) border that crosses over mountains and jungles between the South American nations of Colombia and Venezuela.

Arriving at the border on Sunday, the day after the U.S. military took Maduro in what they dubbed “Operation Absolute Resolve,” I rode along with some of these Colombian soldiers to patrol roads close to the line in heavily armored vehicles. An officer there confirmed to me that they had information on the movement of large numbers of guerillas crossing from Venezuela into Colombia following the U.S. strike. The Colombian troop surge, he said, was…

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