Caracas Chronicles

#NowWhatVenezuela keeps you informed about what’s happening deep inside la patria—from headline-making events to underreported stories that provide the clearest picture of our reality. This report is published weekly.

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An ELN offensive in Catatumbo pushes Colombians to Zulia

Around a thousand Colombians have arrived in Venezuelan territory since last week, following an offensive by the National Liberation Army (ELN) against a dissident faction of the FARC in the Catatumbo region. The offensive has reportedly left over one hundred dead, including civilians and five demobilized guerrillas, according to unofficial sources. Colombian military sources cited by RCN Radio claim that the ELN passed through Zulia and Táchira before entering Catatumbo last week. The Colombian Foreign Ministry has responded by urging Venezuelan authorities to prevent guerrillas from using Venezuela as a platform.

The crisis began on Thursday when the ELN high command decided to break a non-aggression pact with the 33rd Front of the FARC dissidents in Catatumbo (a border area with Zulia state) and attacked communities where this group has a presence. A Venezuelan resident of the La Gabarra sector in Tibú municipality (Norte de Santander, Colombia) told Crónica Uno that guerrillas have entered homes to take people out and kill them without saying a word. Other survivors report having to hide or leave their homes waving white handkerchiefs signaling that they are not hostile.

Most of the refugees arriving in Venezuela are concentrated in Casigua El Cubo, a city in the south of Lake Maracaibo, just a few kilometers from the epicenter of violence in Colombia. They have fled using cars, trucks, tractors, motorcycles, and even canoes, as reported by La Hora de Venezuela. In Casigua they are registered by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees and the mayor’s office of Jesús María Semprum municipality, and later sent to a soccer field “where they receive assistance from national and international organizations.” According to the UN, there are 18,000 displaced people due to the violence, with 15,000 in Cúcuta alone.

The governor of Zulia, Manuel Rosales, has yet to comment on the growing number of refugees in his state. Meanwhile, Táchira Governor Freddy Bernal claims to have ordered the reinforcement of the border with “combat units” to prevent armed groups from entering or seeking refuge in Venezuela. Zulia and Táchira are the two border Venezuelan states directly affected by the conflict. 

“They seek control to become a bargaining chip in international negotiations and to enrich themselves with [Catatumbo’s] cocaine,” Petro tweeted on Thursday. “For the sake of national sovereignty, the ELN must be defeated, along with any force that shares its objectives.”

Why it matters: The key question is Venezuela’s role in all this, aside from receiving Colombians for the first time since the mass deportations ordered by Maduro in 2015. The ELN, a binational armed group which originated in Colombia, has more than 1,200 guerrillas in Venezuelan territory, accounting for 20% of its total force. The ELN division leading this offensive, demanding the Frente 33‘s surrender, is the Frente de Guerra Nororiental, which operates in Norte de Santander (Colombia), Táchira and Zulia.

For the past two years, the Maduro regime has hosted negotiations between the ELN and the Colombian government as part of Petro’s “total peace” plan—during which the ELN has regrouped and strengthened its control over 19 Colombian departments and 8 Venezuelan states. The last ceasefire expired in August, coinciding with the failure of Petro’s diplomatic initiative following Maduro’s electoral fraud. The last round of negotiations took place in Caracas in early November without progress, leading to a 20-month extension to continue seeking peace—”with Petro, we no longer have time to demobilize,” the guerrilla’s chief negotiator told El País back then.

That, too, has collapsed. With relations between the ELN and the Maduro regime at an all-time low and Uribismo promoting military intervention in Venezuela, Petro is now accusing the ELN of committing crimes against humanity and has declared a state of internal commotion.

“They seek control to become a bargaining chip in international negotiations and to enrich themselves with [Catatumbo’s] cocaine,” Petro tweeted on Thursday. “For the sake of national sovereignty, the ELN must be defeated, along with any force that shares its objectives.”

The Colombian government’s chief negotiator has also accused the ELN of plotting to assassinate his right-hand man, a demobilized M-19 guerrilla (like Petro), who leads negotiations with the Gulf Clan. According to Colombian outlet La Silla Vacía, the ELN had consolidated control in Venezuelan territory where it has operated since 2019, and its activity increased along the border after the July 28 elections amid deteriorating Caracas-Bogotá relations. Conflict expert Jorge Mantilla suggests that the ELN “is the most explicit and least costly way for the Maduro regime to influence Colombian politics.”

More information: In November, Colombia’s Ombudsman Office had already issued an early warning about the risk of escalating violence. The governors of Norte de Santander and La Guajira also requested an emergency declaration that did not come in time. UCAB’s Human Rights Center considers the situation a humanitarian crisis that the Venezuelan state must address with the necessary resources and by ensuring the protection of all refugees.

Chavismo claims the killing of Wilexis, Petare’s crime boss

On Wednesday morning, Diosdado Cabello announced that CICPC officers killed Wilexis Acevedo Monasterios—alias Wilexis—after an alleged confrontation in Filas de Mariches, an eastern Caracas parish where he controlled territory. Cabello again linked Wilexis to opposition politicians, the Colombian right, and the 2017 protests cycle. CICPC chief Douglas Rico stated that a grenade bearing the seal of the Republic of Colombia and a fake ID belonging to Wilexis were seized. Wilexis had consolidated control over one of Venezuela’s most important popular areas during the era of hard-handed policing on Venezuelan gangs and low-income communities (2015-2019).

Why it matters: Chavismo seems eager to showcase its capability to take down criminal gangs following Donald Trump’s inauguration, which highlighted the Tren de Aragua and Venezuelan criminals as issues to address in his second term. Chief Prosecutor Tarek William Saab responded to Trump, claiming that Venezuela dismantled Tren de Aragua  in 2023 after taking over the Tocorón prison—although its leader, alias Niño Guerrero, remains at large, and the mega-gang has expanded its operations across Latin America.

Miraflores had denied the existence of Tren de Aragua last year (for instance, after the murder of a dissident military officer in Chile). Now, not only do they acknowledge the gang’s existence, but they also accuse Colombia of sheltering its members and preventing their prosecution in Venezuela.

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