Colombian Defense Minister Signals Venezuela Shift on Guerrillas Under U.S. Tutelage: 'Dissenting Groups No Longer Feel Safe'

Colombian Defense Minister Pedro Sánchez said Venezuela has begun pushing Colombian rebel groups back toward the border, signaling what he described as a break from years in which guerrillas used Venezuelan territory as a rear base.

"The information we have is that they are advancing in operations in the border area and some members of the ELN cartels, of the dissidents, no longer feel safe in that zone," Sánchez told AFP on Wednesday. He added that Venezuelan operations are forcing fighters "toward the Colombian side, or in an area a little closer to the border," giving Colombian forces more room to target them.

Sánchez said Colombia is already "coordinating" diplomatically with Caracas and called the political turmoil after Nicolás Maduro's capture in January "a unique opportunity" to restore security cooperation. Venezuela is now led by interim president Delcy Rodríguez, whom Sánchez's comments suggested is pursuing a different border posture than the Maduro government.

The shift comes as Colombia and the United States have pledged to pursue leaders of armed cocaine-trafficking groups. Sánchez said new cooperation with Washington would be "mainly in intelligence," while ruling out the deployment of U.S. troops on Colombian soil.

"The goal is how we better coordinate intelligence between the United States and Colombia in order to use Colombian force under Colombian norms and international humanitarian law against these criminal groups," Sáncez said, adding that intelligence is key "so there are no grey areas" along the frontier.

The remarks also align with recent analysis by InSight Crime, which reported that Maduro's removal and U.S. military pressure have strained the position of the ELN and dissident FARC factions that long benefited from ties to Venezuelan state actors.

Elizabeth Dickinson, Latin America deputy director at Crisis Group, told InSight Crime that confronting a group with economic links inside the Venezuelan security apparatus would be difficult in the near term.

InSight Crime also reported intelligence and local accounts indicating ELN and FARC dissident commanders began repositioning toward Colombia after Maduro's capture. Venezuelan journalist Fritz Sánchez said at the time that "dissidents withdrew because of the extraction of Maduro, while the ELN remains, but more discreetly... waiting to see how the political landscape evolves."