Colombian Killed by Venezuelan National
Guardsmen
Bogota – A Colombian fisherman was
killed while crossing a border river,
apparently by Venezuelan National Guard
agents, sources with Colombia’s foreign
ministry told EFE on Friday.
A ministry official has traveled to the
northern part of the eastern border province
of Arauca – where the man was gunned down –
to clarify what happened, the sources added.
That official will meet with police, army
soldiers, the provincial governor and
witnesses to gather information and then
communicate his findings to Foreign Minister
Jaime Bermudez, the sources said.
For his part, Arauca Gov. Luis Eduardo Ataya
said he plans to meet with the Venezuelan
consul.
The fisherman, identified as Amadeo Tellez,
apparently was trying to cross the Arauca
River when members of the Venezuelan
National Guard ordered him to stop and
approach them. When he tried to flee, they
shot and killed him, according to the
foreign ministry sources.
Tellez’s body was recovered by a group of
Colombians and taken to the town of
Sacaravema, Arauca.
Caracol Radio said Colombian authorities
will file a diplomatic complaint with their
Venezuelan counterparts, alleging the
incident was “a clear aggression by the
Venezuelan National Guard against the
civilian population.”
Relations between Colombia and Venezuela
have deteriorated in recent weeks over
Bogota’s insinuations that President Hugo
Chavez’s government has been arming leftist
rebels and Caracas’ objections to a deal to
give the U.S. Army access to several
Colombian military bases.
Chavez – who was briefly ousted in a 2002
coup, which he claims the U.S. government
supported – says the basing deal represents
a threat to his country and could spark a
war in the region.
Colombia, however, contends Venezuela has
nothing to fear and maintains the agreement
will bolster the fight against drug
trafficking and terrorist activity and is
necessary after Ecuador ended a lease
allowing U.S. access to a base in that
country.
The crisis has had a direct effect on the
border region, which has been hurt by a
reduction in the amount of people and goods
crossing the frontier.
Chavez has threatened to cut off imports
from Colombia if Bogota does not back out of
the basing deal, a significant threat given
Colombia’s exports to Venezuela made up a
disproportionate share of the nations’ $7
billion worth of trade last year.
This week, Venezuela barred several
Colombian airlines from running cargo
flights and also reduced the number of
commercial flights. EFE |
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