Colombia, Venezuela pledge military cooperation against border "mafias"

Venezuelan acting President Delcy Rodríguez and Colombian President Gustavo Petro have pledged military cooperation to combat “mafias” operating along their shared border, as Petro became the first foreign leader to visit Venezuela since the ouster of former president Nicolás Maduro, News.Az reports, citing foreign media.

Petro met Rodríguez, who assumed interim leadership after Maduro was removed by US forces in January.

The Colombian president said the joint military effort would aim at “freeing border areas from the mafias engaged in a range of illegal businesses, starting with cocaine, illicit gold, human trafficking and rare minerals.”

For her part, Rodríguez stated that “both countries have undertaken the task of making...military plans, but also the immediate establishment of mechanisms for sharing information and for developing intelligence.”

Rodríguez came to power following a rapid US military raid on Caracas on January 3, which resulted in Maduro being taken to New York to face drug trafficking charges.

The administration of US President Donald Trump supports Rodríguez’s interim government, which has opened Venezuela’s oil sector to American companies.

Petro has strongly criticized the US operation and has been criticized by Trump, who accuses the Colombian leader of failing to do enough against drug production.

A planned summit between Petro and Rodríguez in March in the Colombian border city of Cúcuta was cancelled at short notice.

The Cúcuta region is known for the presence of drug trafficking networks and left-wing armed groups, which Colombia has long accused Venezuela of supporting or sheltering.

News.Az 

By Nijat Babayev