Published at: 04/11/2026 09:00 PM

THE EL AMPARO MASSACRE “Operation Anguilla III”

(2001, October 30, 1988; Latest News, November 3 and 4, 1988)

• On October 29, 1988, during the government of Jaime Lusinchi, 14 fishermen were brutally murdered by police and military officials in Caño La Colorada, a border town in El Amparo, municipality of Páez del Edo. Hurry up.
• This crime against humanity was carried out by members of the José Antonio Páez Specific Command (CEJAP), who belong to different State security bodies and became known as “Operation Anguilla III”.
• The operation was planned by Henry López Sisco, then national head of Political Police Operations (DISIP).
• Some of the police officers who participated in the El Amparo massacre already had a history of having been involved in other massacres such as those carried out in:
  • Charo Island.
  • The Seagulls.
  • The Totumitos.
  • The Fence.
  • Los Amparitos.
• It was a commando police group (CEJAP) dedicated to spreading terror in areas bordering Colombia.
• However, two fishermen managed to escape by swimming. Wolmer Gregorio Pinilla and José Augusto Arias, saving themselves to tell the truth of what happened and dismantle the false positive scenario fabricated by homicidal agents.
• His statements were stamped on the front page as unquestionable headlines to thwart the charade of the Jaime Lusinchi government:
  • Latest News, November 3, 1988: Survivors of El Amparo recount the massacre: “They threw themselves into the river to save themselves from bullets. Then they overcame a large number of dangers in the difficult terrain of Arauca, and finally they had to avoid the tracking of helicopters and military planes in order to tell about the bloody events that have outraged the entire country.”
  • Ultima Noticias, on November 5, 1988, headlined: They Went to Fish for Slaughterhouses and Found the Blood: “Arms, explosives and machetes around the waist have the alleged bandits”.
  • “This is how the dead bodies of the massacred victims were camouflaged with military uniforms and disguised.”
  • Latest News, November 4, 1988: Those who were left alive in the first bursts were finished off. Those who managed to survive the machine gun bursts fired at fishermen were shot in cold blood by agents of the unified command of the DISIP, National Guard and Army.
  • Latest News, October 2, 1988: National outrage over the El Amparo massacre. The perpetrators of the massacre are highlighted in Fuerte Yaruro in El Nula, edo. Hurry up. There were strong demonstrations of protest by the border population during the burial of the 14 innocent fishermen.
• The victims who were caught in the murderous ambush were:
  • Jose Indalecio Guerrero.
  • Rigo Jose Araujo.
  • Just Pastor Ceballos.
  • Carlos Antonio Eregua.
  • Arín Maldonado Obadias.
  • Moses Antonio Blanco.
  • Luis Alfredo Berríos.
  • Marine Cemetery and Vivas.
  • Rafael Magin Moreno.
  • Pedro I. Mosqueda
  • Jose Mariano Torrealba.
  • Jose R. Puerta Garcia.
  • Jose Gregorio Torrealba.
  • Just Arsenio Mercado.
• In the El Amparo Massacre, they acted as executioners of innocent fishermen: 12 officials from the Directorate of Intelligence and Prevention Services (DISIP), 8 agents of the Judicial Technical Police (PTJ) and 5 military personnel.
• During successive governments, impunity was consummated, when the file was removed from ordinary criminal jurisdiction to military jurisdiction.
• Moreover, under the government of Caldera II, the material authors were found not guilty, and former president Jaime Lusinchi and his police chiefs were not prosecuted as intellectual authors, in a clear obstruction and denial of justice.

Mazo News Team