Many sources consulted by the Research Directorate mentioned the presence of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Columbia, FARC) and the National Liberation Army (Ejército de Liberación Nacional, ELN) in Venezuela (El Tiempo 11 Mar. 2002; El Universal 16 Mar. 2003; ibid. 12 Oct. 2003; ICG 8 Apr. 2003). According to the International Crisis Group (ICG), the sparsely populated and largely inaccessible area along the Venezuela-Colombia border is often subject to incursions of armed groups from Colombia, who use the region as a hiding place and a base of operations and for trafficking drugs and arms (8 Apr. 2003).

According to an article in the El Tiempo newspaper that quotes a report of Venezuela's Military Intelligence Directorate (Dirección de Inteligencia Militar, DIM), the 740 FARC fighters in Venezuela, including the guerrilla fronts numbers 59, 33, 24, 41, 25, 10 and 45, are active in the states of Apure, Mérida, Táchira and Zulia (11 Mar. 2002). On 16 March 2003, the El Universal newspaper noted the existence of a FARC camp with 400 fighters five kilometres from a highway in the town of Jesús María Semprún (State of Zulia). The presence of the FARC in the State of Zulia was also mentioned in several other sources (Venezuela Analítica 4 Mar. 2003; El Universal 29 Apr. 2002; ICG 8 Apr. 2003), including a report from the American intelligence agency, Virtual Defense and Development International (VDI), which stated that, on 28 April 2003, the FARC and the ELN had 16 camps in the states of Zulia and Táchira (n.d.).

According to a report of Venezuela's Directorate of Intelligence and Prevention Services (Dirección de los Servicios de Inteligencia y Prevención, DISIP), published on 24 May 2001, the ELN is not only involved in criminal activities in the states of Táchira, Apure, Mérida, Barinas and Zulia, but it also funds and provides military training to Movement 13 (Movimiento 13), a group of urban rebels in Mérida (El Universal 12 Oct. 2003a). The Bolivarian Liberation Forces (Fuerzas Bolivarianas de Liberación, FBL) is another group with ties to Colombian guerrillas (ibid. 24 Mar. 2003; ibid. 17 Jan. 2003; El Tiempo 8 Aug. 2003; VDI n.d.). From its base of operations in the State of Apure, the FBL has extended its activities, including kidnappings, to Táchira, Barinas (El Universal 23 Mar. 2003; Semana 1 Mar. 2003), and Lara (ibid.) and, in February 2003, it claimed responsibility for an attack on the Colombian and Spanish diplomatic offices in Caracas (ibid.; El País 2 Mar. 2003; BBC 26 Feb. 2003). According to the National Federation of Ranchers in Venezuela (Federación Nacional de Ganaderos de Venezuela, FEDENAGA), the FBL is responsible for approximately 40 per cent of the 65 recent kidnappings in the states of Táchira and Zulia (VDI n.d.). Some sources stated that the FBL and the Colombian guerrillas have very close ties (IPS 1 Aug. 2003; BBC 7 Aug. 2002), while others indicated that the FBL has distanced itself from the FARC and the ELN over the last few years (Semana 1 Mar. 2003; El País 20 July 2003).

In addition to the Bolivarian Liberation Forces, the FARC and ELN have also been involved in kidnappings in Venezuela, mainly in regions bordering Colombia (VDI n.d.; ICG 8 Apr. 2003; El Tiempo 8 Aug. 2003; El Universal 12 Oct. 2003a; ibid. 17 Jan. 2003). For example, unidentified persons thought to be members of the FARC hijacked a passenger plane between Barinas and Apure and forced it to land in Colombia (BBC 10 Aug. 1999; El Universal n.d.). The FARC returned the passengers to Venezuela on 9 August 1999 (BBC 10 Aug. 1999). On 4 May 2000, members of the FARC's Front 10 kidnapped a rancher, Angel Darío Centella, and his wife in Apure (Radio Caracol 6 May 2000). He was later killed, apparently because he refused to pay a sum of money to his abductors (ibid.)

No mention of kidnappings involving Colombian guerrillas in Caracas or in the states of Lara or Barinas could be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate.

According to several sources, the Venezuela-Colombia border is guarded by at least 20,000 Venezuelan soldiers (Finanzas 28 June 2002; CIP 22 Aug. 2003; IPS 1 Aug. 2003). Several examples of operations led by security forces against the Colombian guerrillas were also mentioned; for example, in March 2002, the National Guard announced the capture of the commander of the FARC's Front 16 in Sanariapo (State of Amazonas) (Terra 26 Mar. 2002). That same month, Venezuelan air force helicopters destroyed a FARC camp in the State of Zulia (ICG 8 Apr. 2003). In Táchira in September 2003, the police captured Commander Reinaldo, a presumed ELN guerrilla, who was suspected of murder, kidnapping and extortion (El Heraldo 17 Sept. 2003).

However, several sources indicated that the authorities are not making enough effort to fight armed groups in the Venezuela-Colombia border region (CSM 8 Mar. 2001; El Universal 23 Mar. 2003; ibid. 24 Mar. 2003). According to ranchers who own farms near the border, security forces have pulled back, giving the armed groups control of the area (CSM 8 Mar. 2001; El Universal 23 Mar. 2003). The El Universal newspaper indicated on 24 March 2003 that the FBL performs government-type functions in some areas of Táchira, Apure, Barinas and Zulia. The DISIP report of 24 May 2001 noted that the public in Táchira had little trust in the security forces, including the local police, the National Guard, and the Judicial Police (Policía Judicial), who were suspected of being corrupt (El Universal 12 Oct. 2003b).

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

BBC. 26 February 2003. "Security Boost for Caracas Embassies." http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/2799707.stm [Accessed 17 Oct. 2003]

_____. 7 August 2002. Mike Ceaser. "Venezuela's Border Headache." http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/2178641.stm [Accessed 17 Oct. 2003]

_____. 10 August 1999. "Venezuelan Hijack Passengers Released." http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/415854.stm [Accessed 21 Oct. 2003]

Center for International Policy (CIP), Washington, DC. 22 August 2003. David N. Weinreb. "Cross-Border Tension: Colombia and Venezuela." http://www.ciponline.org/colombia/030822wein.htm [Accessed 20 Oct. 2003]

The Christian Science Monitor (CSM) [Boston]. 8 March 2001. Phil Gunson. "Frontier Clash Pits Cattlemen Against Guerrillas." http://search.csmonitor.com/durable/2001/03/08/fp1s3-csm.shtml [Accessed 17 Oct. 2003]

Finanzas [Madrid]. 28 June 2002. Luis Jaime Acosta. "Paramilitares de Colombia apoyan lucha antirebelde en Venezuela." http://www.finanzas.com/id.4076098/noticias/noticia.htm [Accessed 21 Oct. 2003]

El Heraldo [Barranquilla]. 17 September 2003. "Capturan a integrante del ELN en Venezuela." http://www.analitica.com/va/vpi/8772480.asp [Accessed 17 Oct. 2003]

Inter Press Service (IPS). 1 August 2003. "Venezuela: Kidnaps, Murders Heat up Border with Colombia." (NEXIS)

International Crisis Group (ICG), Brussels. 8 April 2003. "Colombia and its Neighbours: The Tentacles of Instablility." http://www.intl-crisis-group.org/projects/latinamerica/colombia_andes/reports/A400939_08042003.pdf [Accessed 17 Oct. 2003]

El País [Cali]. 20 July 2003. "Las guerrillas se pelean el control en zonas venezolanas." http://elpais-cali.terra.com.co/paisonline/notas/Julio202003/D520N1.html [Accessed 17 Oct. 2003]

_____. 2 March 2003. "Insurgencia venezolana, ¿mito o realidad?" http://elpais-cali.terra.com.co/paisonline/notas/Marzo022003/A402N2.html [Accessed 17 Oct. 2003]

Radio Caracol [Bogotá]. 6 May 2000. "Miembros de Farc asesinan a ganadero venezolano en Apure." http://www.caracol.com.co/titular.asp?ID=24998 [Accessed 17 Oct. 2003]

Semana [Bogotá]. 1 March 2003. No. 1087. "¿Una guerrilla incipiente?" http://www.semana.com/archivo/articulosView.jsp?id=68581 [Accessed 17 Oct. 2003]

Terra Networks. 26 March 2002. "EE.UU. sugiere evitar viajes a frontera venezolana con Colombia." http://www.terra.com/actualidad/articulo/html/act73608.htm [Accessed 21 Oct. 2003]

El Tiempo [Bogotá]. 8 August 2003. "Análisis: El cordón sanitario." http://eltiempo.terra.com.co/proyectos/front/fronteras/ARTICULO-WEB-_NOTA_INTERIOR-1207655.html [Accessed 17 Oct. 2003]

_____. 11 March 2002. "740 de las Farc, en Venezuela." http://www.analitica.com/va/vpi/5521076.asp?frameactive=0 [Accessed 17 Oct. 2003]

El Universal [Caracas]. 12 October 2003a. Francisco Olivares. "Guerrilla mía." http://www.eluniversal.com/2003/10/12/pol1.shtml [Accessed 17 Oct. 2003]

_____. 12 October 2003b. "Actores de una obra macabra." http://www.eluniversal.com/2003/10/12/pol2.shtml [Accessed 17 Oct. 2003]

_____. 24 March 2003. Roberto Giusti. "El brazo armado de la revolución." http://www.eluniversal.com/2003/03/24/24108AA.shtml [Accessed 17 Oct. 2003]

_____. 23 March 2003. Roberto Giusti. "Patria para Todos gestiona el pago de vacuna en Apure." http://www.eluniversal.com/2003/03/23/23184AA.shtml [Accessed 17 Oct. 2003]

_____. 16 March 2003. Roberto Giusti. "Enclave guerrillero en Zulia." http://archivo.eluniversal.com/2003/03/16/16108CC.shtml [Accessed 17 Oct. 2003]

_____. 17 January 2003. "Plagiaron a 150 personas en 2002." http://www.eluniversal.com/2003/01/17/17201AA.shtml [Accessed 17 Oct. 2003]

_____. 29 April 2002. "FARC retienen a 16 venezolanos." http://www.eluniversal.com/2002/04/29/29112CC.shtml [Accessed 17 Oct. 2003]

_____. n.d. "Seis casos venezolanos." http://politica.eluniversal.com/informespecial/secuestro/inf8.html [Accessed 21 Oct. 2003]

Venezuela Analítica [Caracas]. 4 March 2003. "Las FARC pasean por Venezuela." http://www.analitica.com/va/sintesis/internacionales/7151173.asp [Accessed 17 Oct. 2003]

Virtual Defense and Development International (VDI), Leesburg, Virginia. n.d. "Overseas Security: Venezuela Incident Archives." http://overseassecurity.com/2/Incident_Archive/Venezuela_Incident_Archives.htm [Accessed 17 Oct. 2003]

IRB Databases

Internet sites, including:

Human Rights Watch (HRW)

International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS)

Radio Caracol [Bogotá]. 1999-2003

Revista Cambio [Bogotá]

Semana [Bogotá]. 2000-2003

Talcuál [Caracas]

El Universal [Caracas]. 2002-2003

Vheadline [Caracas]