The Sectorial Vice President of Defense and Sovereignty, G/J Vladimir Padrino López, informed that in the “Catatumbo lightning operation” It participates more than 5,000 members of the Bolivarian National Armed Forces (FANB) who will be deployed in 100 kilometers from the border with Colombia to guarantee the integrity of the Venezuelan territory.
“We do it because it is a constitutional mandate and President Nicolás Maduro to what we are seeing beyond our borders in the Colombian catatumbo (…) in the departments of Norte de Santander, a territorial dispute over the drug trafficking routes that are being Librando for the armed groups that make life there, ”said Padrino, from the main command post, located in Santa Barbara del Zulia.
A situation of violence that “have support from the Colombian oligarchy by the hand of characters such as Álvaro Uribe”
“He always has his hands in situations like these, Iván Duque also has his hands in this destabilization that is being produced in Colombia, which has already produced more than 80 dead, as we are victims of the violence of those armed groups that For the permeability of the border they come and go, ”said Padrino.
Therefore, he stressed that with this operation “access to armed groups to Venezuelan territory” will be denied, since these situations that occur in border areas can cause a “civil war, disorder, chaos.”
“We are going to preserve our sovereignty, independence and democratic stability,” he emphasized.
In this regard, he explained that during the procedure they will carry out air recognition patterns, patrol and scrutiny, control of road and river axles, eradication of illicit crops and destruction of clandestine clues.
He assured that this operation will be carried out in coordination with the Minister of Defense, Iván Velásquez Gómez, with whom he established a protocol to achieve the efficiency in the fight against these armed groups and against drug trafficking in both countries.
Operation Balance
During his statements Godfather detailed the achievements achieved with the lightning operation of the Catatumbo, which is carried out three times a year in this same border area.
Among them is the seizure of 100 tons of drugs, destruction of 47 logistics structures of drug trafficking and 36 laboratories for drug processing, as well as have disabled 21 aircraft and 71 clandestine tracks.
“The people of Venezuela can trust its Bolivarian National Armed Forces, we are doing the job (…) doing several operations at the same time simultaneously in the rest of the national territory to guarantee national sovereignty,” said Padrino.
