Western Hemisphere
October 26

Táchira state governor: Rebel groups seize municipalities
César Pérez Vivas, the governor of southwestern Táchira state, said that he has delivered at the office of President Hugo Chávez a document where he asks the ruler to respect the sovereignty of the country and provide security to all Venezuelans.

Pérez Vivas reported that an armed group that kidnapped and massacred members of a Colombian soccer team has seized several towns in Táchira state.

"I have the view, based on reports of the people of Táchira and state security agencies, that the Rafael Urdaneta, Junín, Fernández Feo and Uribante municipalities are used as a base for foreign armed groups."

Táchira governor said that the fact that the Colombian soccer players were kidnapped in a main road near an airport of the Venezuelan Armed Forces called his attention.

One of the bodies found at Venezuela-Colombia border is a Venezuelan citizen
Colombian Ombudsman Vólmar Pérez said that eight out of the 10 members of a soccer team that were slain in Venezuela's border with Colombia, are Colombians, one of them was born in Peru and the other one in Venezuela. Pérez asked the Venezuelan authorities a "fast and efficient" investigation.

"There are eight Colombian men killed," Pérez told private radio station RCN from Venezuela, where he travelled this weekend.

The eight Colombians that were killed on October 24 were part of a group of a dozen people who were kidnapped on October 11, while playing a soccer game in the town of Chururú, Fernández Feo Municipality, in the Venezuelan state of Táchira, in the border with Colombia, AFP reported.

According to relatives, most of the victims were street vendors in Venezuela.

Uribe asks Chávez to safeguard lives on the border
Colombia's President Álvaro Uribe requested on October 26 his Venezuelan counterpart Hugo Chávez to coordinate measures to safeguard the lives of border residents and prevent further events such as the slaughter of 10 people by an illicit armed group.

Uribe made the appeal even though the two countries are going through a diplomatic crisis that has started to hit the bilateral trade of more than USD 7 billion a year, Reuters reported.

"I urge the government of Venezuela, its president, to go beyond any disagreement and look for some coordination of activities to protect the right to life of Colombian and Venezuelan citizens," Uribe said.

Venezuela protests Colombia's meddling
The Venezuelan government submitted on October 26 a Notice of Protest to the Colombian Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the repeated presence in Venezuelan territory of officials from the Administrative Security Department (DAS), "found spying and trying to bribe, activities which are apparently unfriendly and defined as crimes in the Venezuelan Criminal Code."

There were also claims of "a big conspiracy and destabilization plot against Venezuela" with a potential impact on the region and a request to put an end to such actions which endanger Venezuela's sovereignty, territorial integrity and democratic stability, according to a press release quoted by state-run news agency ABN.

The notice was delivered to Colombian Ambassador to Venezuela María Luisa Chiappe. Concomitantly, the Venezuelan government promised to repatriate eight Colombian men killed at the Venezuela-Colombia border, as the Colombian Consul in Andean Táchira state Carlos Alberto Barrios said that his government lacked the means to take the bodies to Colombia.

The bodies were taken on October 26 to the morgue of Cúcuta, Colombia, where they will be delivered to relatives.

October 27

Colombian ambassador warns of "dangerousness" on the border
María Luisa Chiappe, Colombia's ambassador in Venezuela, said on October 27 that beyond the complaints of the Venezuelan government against Bogotá, after the murder of 10 people, mostly Colombians, in the border, the event was "unprecedented" and showed that the border region is "highly dangerous."

Chiappe said in an interview with Caracol, a Colombian radio station, she had no reports about the suspected presence of Colombian state security agents, members of the Security Administrative Department (DAS) in Venezuela and therefore, she could not confirm it.

On October 26, the Venezuelan government submitted a notice of protest accusing Colombia of using its state security agents to spy.

"I have no personal knowledge of the fact that DAS members are undertaking such activities in Venezuela. I am not going to speculate and I will not fall into provocations. I think that the massacre is the most important fact, where 10 people were the victims," eight of them from Colombia, one Venezuelan and one Peruvian, the Colombian ambassador said, as reported by AP.

"Whatever the author (of the massacre) is, it is an extremely serious matter, because these are unprecedented events that show us that the border (between Colombia and Venezuela) has become a highly dangerous place. The two countries need to address this issue," she said.

"I do not know (if the eight Colombians) were illegally in Venezuela, but at this moment it does not matter," the top diplomat said.

Colombia consul investigates claims of another massacre in Venezuela
Jairo Martínez, the Colombian consul in the Venezuelan state of Barinas, said on October 27 that he is investigating allegations of a massacre of five Colombians in August this year.

"Relatives of the victims said that these people were apparently suffocated. This happened approximately in August," Martínez said by telephone from western Barinas state to RCN, a private radio station in Bogotá.

In the slaughter, a Venezuelan would have been killed, bringing the total of people murdered to six, the Colombian consul said. He added that the massacre would have occurred in the town of Socopó, at the Antonio José de Sucre municipality.

The Colombian consul said that the authorities of the state of Barinas have not provided any information. Therefore, he is conducting investigations about the complaints from relatives of the victims, AFP reported.

Venezuela announces arrest of Colombian spies
Francisco Arias Cárdenas, Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs for Latin America and the Caribbean, announced the arrest of several agents from the Colombian Security Administrative Department (DAS) in Venezuela.

"In the next few hours, they will be presented to the press by the Ministry of the Interior and by security forces" and they will be prosecuted by "Venezuelan courts," Arias said.

He added that the Venezuelan security forces found destabilization plans against "the government, our people, and our democracy."

Cárdenas reported the case a day after the Venezuelan Foreign Ministry filed a notice of protest against these activities. He also clarified that the note submitted on October 26 had nothing to do with recent events in the state of Táchira.

"The note has nothing to do with what happened last weekend in Táchira. We deeply regret the death of these people, but a topic cannot be linked with another. The notice is related to what has been happening with members of the Colombian state security agency," the Vice Minister said.

October 28

Entry of paramilitaries is a declaration of war, says lawmaker
The entry of paramilitaries into our country is part of a silent declaration of war against Venezuela, said on October 28 National Assembly Deputy Mario Isea.

Isea said on the TV show Despertó Venezuela, broadcast by the state-run TV station Venezolana de Televisión, that Colombian President Álvaro Uribe Vélez is aware of this situation. The lawmaker added that this action is related to "conspiracy plans" that according the ruling party were organized by the former mayor of Maracaibo, Manuel Rosales, who is currently living in Peru.

The lawmaker explained that Táchira state governor César Pérez Vivas, who is also involved in the destabilization plan, "has ties to Colombian paramilitaries," the state-run news agency Agencia Bolivariana de Noticias (ABN) reported.

"We must fight strongly against paramilitaries, as President Hugo Chávez Frías has said. (...) We are promoting the coordination of all the government agencies," Isea added.

The lawmaker also said that the presence of Colombian agents of the Security Administrative Department (DAS) in Venezuela is also related to the plot.

Colombian security agents to face trial in Venezuela
Venezuela's President Hugo Chávez confirmed on October 27 the arrest of two suspected officials of the Security Administrative Department (DAS) in Venezuela when they were allegedly "spying" for Colombia.

"They will be judged according to the Venezuelan laws. Their rights will be respected (...) They were arrested in flagrante delicto, spying, and it is not the first time (...) We are not going to release them. They will be prosecuted," Chávez said during a cabinet meeting broadcast on the state-run TV network Venezolana de Televisión (VTV).

According to Chávez, the increased presence of Colombian spies in Venezuela is linked to an alleged conspiracy against his government, supported by "the CIA and the US government." Although the Head of State did not say when and where the suspected security agents were arrested, he said that they were trying to bribe Venezuelan officials to obtain information on military equipment, military units and militias.

Relatives report murder of six other Colombians in Venezuela
Relatives of six Colombians, who visited Venezuela in July for business reasons, said that they were killed in the South American country. Their bodies were found in August in the state of Barinas, reported on October 28 the Colombian press.

"Coincidentally, all of them were merchants. They knew each other. They disappeared the same day and appeared naked and dead in Socopó (state of Barinas)," said Lina Dávila, widow of one of the victims, in an interview with the Colombian newspaper El Tiempo, in Bogotá.

The complaint made by the relatives of the six Colombians dead some months ago was known after Jairo Martínez, the Colombian consul in the state of Barinas, said that he was investigating an alleged massacre of at least five Colombian citizens, AFP reported.

Police finds new body of the group of men kidnapped on the border
A new body was found on October 28 by a police commission in the western state of Táchira. According to reports, the man could be part of the group who was abducted on the Venezuela-Colombia border.

Until October 27, Venezuelan authorities concluded that five Colombians and one Venezuelan had been killed. The new body was located about 500 meters away from the place where the police discovered the first bodies.

Although the authorities have not confirmed the name, they consider that the body of the young man, about 25 years old, could be José Luis Arenas, who was reported missing. The decomposed body had a bullet in his head and was tied.

October 29

Colombia insists on saying that it did not send spies
The Colombian Administrative Department of Security (DAS), a secret intelligence service, insisted on October 29 that it is not true that it has sent spies to Venezuela, as the government of President Hugo Chávez has said. This week, Venezuelan officials reported that two agents of the Colombian state security agency were arrested to face trial.

Felipe Muñoz, the director of the Administrative Department of Security, said: "Categorically, no." He ensured that the persons detained by the Venezuelan authorities have nothing to do with his institution, DPA reported.

Muñoz said that Colombian diplomats in Venezuela gave him the names of the detainees.

"Eduardo González was held in custody on October 3. He has been charged of carrying weapons and drugs abuse. People in Maracay (Venezuela) say that he is one of the DAS spies, but it should be noted that he neither works in DAS nor he is a source of the agency," Muñoz told Colombian radio station Caracol.

Minister of Interior accuses Colombian intelligence service of spying
Venezuelan Minister of the Interior and Justice Tareck El Aissami charged the Colombian Administrative Department of Security (DAS) with using its state security agency to spy in Venezuela and elsewhere in the region.

He said that following an investigation, three citizens were held in custody on October 2 in the city of Maracay. Two of them are Colombians and one is a Venezuelan. Their names are Eduardo González Himiob; Argenis Gutiérrez and Ángel Narciso Guanare.

"Once detained and brought to the competent authorities, some proceedings were carried out and a document resulted. We would like to show it today to the country and the entire world, because it reveals a major espionage operation against our country and against the countries in the region."

The minister said that the official document obtained by Venezuelan officials reports a spy operation against Venezuela.

October 30
Colombian FM worried about killings of fellow citizens in Venezuela
Colombia's Minister of Foreign Affairs Jaime Bermúdez on October 30 voiced concern about the recent killings of some 15 Colombians in Venezuela, and urged the authorities to clarify such events.

"What we want, as Colombians and as country, is that (Venezuelan authorities) establish clear responsibility for the killings of a group of Colombians a few days ago," Bermúdez said to Colombia's private radio station Caracol.

"We are extremely concerned about what is happening (in Venezuela) and we want and need to know what has happened and be assured of the result of investigations," the diplomat said.

On the other hand, Bermúdez declined to comment on the allegations made by the government of Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez against the Colombian intelligence service (the Administrative Department of Security, DAS.)