Members of the “Reinaldo Ardila Gómez urban war front” of the ELN (National Liberation Army), under the orders of alias ‘Martín’ or ‘El Tuerto’, have control of the border between Colombia and Venezuela, particularly the trails or informal crossings that are disputed with the “Dissident FARC” (The fraction of the Armed revolutionary Forces of Colombia that shunned a peace and disarmament treaty more than a decade ago). The area most affected by this factions war is the municipality of Puerto Santander and the rural area around Cúcuta. However, they are also present in other municipalities.
By: BluRadio
Currently, according to intelligence information from the Colombian police, they would be focused on the theft of commercial vehicles, high-end trucks and their cargo, and extortion of the productive sector of the area. In a map known exclusively by Blu Radio, the names and exact locations of many informal border crossings are revealed, many of them on the Venezuelan side of the border.
In this third map, of four known, points are marked where the ELN would have influence such as the Mata de Coco trail, La Estrella, near Puerto Santander, El Arco, Barrancas and La Cooperativa, around the municipality of Agua Clara and Pata Gallina, La Morusca and Mata de Curo, which lie on the Venezuelan side, near the communities of El Félix, and the municipality of Las Mesas.
According to the police intelligence report, there are also a total of 29 ELN members present on the border in the rural area of the municipality of Puerto Santander and Cúcuta, who are currently focused on various crimes such as smuggling, extortion and kidnapping, among others, to obtain criminal income in that area of the border.
