Venezuela military hits Colombian ELN camp in Apure border raid

Venezuelan armed forces reportedly attacked a National Liberation Army (ELN) camp on Friday in the Pedro Camejo area of Apure State.

According to RANE Worldview, a geopolitical and intelligence platform belonging to Stratfor, the military operation relied on US intelligence support.

Local NGO Fundaredes stated that drones and combat helicopters were used in the operation and that 19 people lost their lives, 10 of whom were identified by forensic police in the state capital of San Fernando.

Javier Garcia, Fundaredes director for Apure, claimed that the ELN used this area as a drug storage and logistics hub.

According to right-wing news portal Infobae, the strike also targeted “camouflaged drug transport aircraft” belonging to the ELN.

On Sunday, Fundaredes reported “armed clashes” involving drones in the Cedeno municipality of Bolivar State, near the operating areas of state-owned bauxite mining and processing company BAUXILUM.

According to Fundaredes, local miners were forced to leave the area and operations were temporarily suspended. However, the NGO did not specify who carried out the attacks.

At a press conference on Monday, Venezuelan Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello stated that the country’s military and security forces had been deployed along the 2,200-kilometre border with Colombia in order to “prevent” the potential fallout of escalating “clashes” in Colombia.

“We do not want any conflict that does not belong to us,” Cabello said, but he did not address reports that an operation had been conducted against the ELN.

The interior minister also rejected any foreign interference in Venezuela’s internal affairs.

Publicly available flight radar, however, confirmed the presence of US military assets over Venezuelan territory in recent days.

This included reconnaissance aircraft seen flying over border areas.

Since the US strike on 3 January and the abduction of President Nicolas Maduro, senior US military officials, including Southern Command chief General Francis Donovan and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Dan Caine, have visited Venezuela.

In June, US forces conducted an air strike in Bolivar State, claiming to have extrajudicially executed Hector “Nino” Guerrero, the alleged leader of the Tren de Aragua gang.

Washington thanked Caracas for its “cooperation”, while the Venezuelan government issued a statement reporting a “joint operation”.

The Trump administration has not commented on the reported strikes against the Colombian armed group.

During a visit to Colombia in September, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio raised the presence of the ELN and dissident factions of the demobilised Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) as an issue that “needed to be addressed” by Venezuelan authorities.

Right-wing Colombian President Abelardo de la Espriella, who took office in August, launched a “total offensive” against the ELN, which included multiple air strikes, security operations, and the militarisation of Cucuta, a key town on the Venezuelan border.

He also joined “Shield of the Americas”, a regional alliance established under Washington’s leadership and funding that sets the fight against international crime and migration as an explicit goal.

The rebel group said it would resist and condemned US intervention in the region.

The ELN is the longest-active guerrilla group in Colombia, waging a decades-long insurgency against the Colombian state.

The organisation maintained an arm’s-length relationship with the Bolivarian government under Chavez and Maduro, operating along the vast southwestern border beyond the control of either country and occasionally cooperating with Venezuelan authorities against Colombian paramilitaries and FARC elements.

The Maduro government supported former Colombian President Gustavo Petro’s efforts to negotiate a peace deal with the ELN, with several rounds of talks held in Caracas. However, attacks by both sides continued and the negotiations proved inconclusive.

Venezuelan authorities have repeatedly denied claims that Colombian armed groups maintain a permanent presence on their side of the border.

In 2021, the Venezuelan military launched an operation against dissident FARC elements in Apure State; weeks of fighting left dozens dead and displaced thousands of civilians.

According to Venezuelanalysis, there were widespread rumours that the ELN aided that operation.