Venezuelan Military Clashes with Colombian Militants on the Border, Inflicts Heavy Casualties

Venezuela's security forces reportedly confronted and killed Colombian militants on the border between the two countries, according to a statement by a senior Venezuelan security official. Venezuelan security forces seized firearms, grenades, and several vehicles from the militants. According to "protector" of the Tachira region Freddy Bernal, appointed to the high ranking military position by the central authorities, seven militants were killed in the clashes.

Amid increasingly hostile relations between the United States and Venezuela, the former which has threatened direct military action against the latter, tensions between Venezuela and its U.S. aligned neighbours have also escalated. Colombia is perhaps the most reliable and longstanding partner of the United States in Latin America, and has committed personnel either officially as part of the armed forces or unofficially as armed non state combatants to numerous wars in support of U.S. interests, from the Korean War in the early 1950s to the Saudi led war in Yemen today. The United States is the largest supplier of arms to Colombia's military, which maintains close ties to the U.S. and is heavily armed with a military expenditure of over $12 billion annually. Should the U.S. seek to increase pressure on Venezuela, its close regional partner which shares a 1,370-mile border with the country could well prove an invaluable asset. Weather or not militants killed in border clashes were drug smugglers from criminal gangs which have long trafficked narcotics and other illegal substances through the area remains unknown, but Venezuela has previously been forced to close off the border entirely from 2015-2016 in response to Colombian smugglers' attacks on the Venezuelan military.