May 8, 2018: Terrorists kill miners in Venezuela

GUASIPATI, VENEZUELA – Having a terrorist group causing havoc on your neighbour’s land is bad enough: what to do when they cross into your country?

Colombia has been through one hell of a half century. A terrorist group that goes by the name Frente Armada Revolucionaria de Colombia – better known as the FARC – was behind a reign of terror that killed hundreds of thousands and led to the rise of a host of parties, some tied to the military, that engaged in horrendous human rights violations.

Not surprisingly, Colombians bore the brunt of this violence. But these crimes were not limited to that nation nor to that group.

There was always a second group in Colombia, much smaller in size, but akin to the FARC. I am referring here to the Ejercito de Liberacion Nacional (ELN – National Liberation Army) which was founded in 1964 to fight against Colombia’s unequal distribution of land and which had been inspired by the Cuban Marxist revolution.

And it has not only struck in Colombia.

On this day in 2018

The ELN killed 20 miners in Venezuela in the province of Bolivar. Reports suggested they had crossed into that nation to take over operations, particularly gold extraction. Other information suggested that the ELN had already seized six such sites.

Venezuela has of course been a shit show as well for decades under Hugo Chavez and Nicolas Maduro, both of whom have run the nation into the dirt. Having a neighbouring country’s terrorist group wreak havoc in yours cannot help.

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