Colombian guerrilla commanders who allegedly operated in Venezuela are fleeing following the US military operation in Caracas that ousted leader Nicolas Maduro, a source in the Colombian forces told AFP on Tuesday.
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Bogota has long suspected that leaders of powerful groups such as the National Liberation Army (ELN), which controls cocaine trafficking routes along the border, and factions of the now defunct FARC guerrilla army, live in Venezuela.
Security experts say the ELN has rear bases within Venezuela that were tolerated by Maduro, who denied it.
A Colombian armed forces officer told AFP on condition of anonymity Tuesday he had received reports of guerrilla leaders trying to cross the border back home after Washington’s weekend raid.
The presence of guerrilla kingpins along the border constitutes a threat to Colombia’s security after Maduro’s fall, according to the Defense Ministry in Bogota.
When the ousted Venezuelan leader was sent to New York to face justice, Bogota issued an alert over possible attacks and deployed thousands of troops to the more than 2,200-kilometer (1,370-mile) border.
AFP on Tuesday observed Colombian soldiers in the border city of Cucuta.
Trump had warned Colombian President Gustavo Petro, who he has accused without providing evidence of being a drug lord, to “watch his ass.”
In response, Petro — a former urban guerrilla — said he was willing to “take up arms” for “the homeland.”