President Gustavo Petro reinforced the military presence in the Colombian Catatumbo

Published at: 28/08/2025 07:38 PM

The Colombian president, Gustavo Petro, reported this Thursday, August 28, that he ordered a reinforcement of the military presence in Catatumbo, on the border with Venezuela, to reduce the operation of armed groups linked to organized crime, the Russia Today website reported.

In his account on the social network X, he said that “I requested the militarization of the Catatumbo border [...] to reduce as much as possible the forces of the mafia (armed groups participating in organized crime). I have ordered the Colombian Army to expand the number of troops in the Colombian Catatumbo.”

The publication was made by Petro, referring to a report questioning the deployment of U.S. ships and troops in the Caribbean to combat drug trafficking, as well as the baseless accusations against Venezuela in this matter.

He also assured that 25,000 soldiers are already deployed in the area. The new contingent, whose number you did not specify, will join this group. “It's not the land that beats the Mafia, it's the coordination between the two states that achieves it,” he said.

This announcement is in addition to a similar announcement last Monday, August 25, by the Minister of Popular Power for Internal Relations, Justice and Peace of Venezuela, Diosdado Cabello Rondón, who reported the activation of Peace Zone No. 1, in the states of Táchira and Zulia, bordering Colombia, with a deployment of 15,000 troops, including soldiers and police.

“I tell the Colombian Government, which has been collaborating, to do the same to ensure peace along the axis and evict anyone who wants to commit crimes in the border area,” the senior official said at the time.

Also, last July, at the behest of the President of the Republic, Nicolás Maduro, Caracas and Bogotá signed a memorandum of understanding to lay the foundations for the creation of an Agreement for Peace, Union and Binational Development.

Mazo News Team