During a telephone contact with Venezolana de Televisión, Bernal added that more than 80 paramilitaries have fallen in combat after clashes with the FANB.
He also said that “the Los Rastrojos mafia structure of the Pablo Escobar cartel, as well as the paramilitary organization of the border group La Línea, was dismantled.”
In this sense, the protector of Táchira reiterated that “the Andean entity is free of paramilitarism, despite its proximity to the department of Norte de Santander in Colombia.”
“With the President of the Republic, Nicolás Maduro, we began hard work with the Bolivarian National Armed Forces and intelligence agencies. More than three years and we can say that Táchira is free of paramilitarism ”, stressed Bernal.
As he recalled, more than 2,000 kilometers of border are shared between the neighboring country and the Bolivarian nation. “For many years, they (paramilitaries) had settled primarily along 164 kilometers in the state of Táchira.”
Freddy Bernal reaffirmed that the Venezuelan territory is free and sovereign before any foreign power and irregular groups. “Here the only ones who can patrol and exercise sovereignty are the Bolivarian National Armed Forces and the State security forces,” he stressed.
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