Colombian Rebel Chief Urges Guerrilla 'Super Bloc' Against U.S. Intervention
Colombia’s most‑wanted FARC dissident commander, Néstor Gregorio Vera ('Iván Mordisco'), has released a video calling on rival Latin American guerrilla groups — including the National Liberation Army (ELN) — to set aside years of bloody infighting and form a unified 'insurgent bloc' to resist President Donald Trump and a feared U.S.-backed intervention in Venezuela. The appeal, reported by Reuters and others, comes after the U.S. raid that captured former Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro and as Trump says the U.S. may remain involved in Venezuela for years, moves that have rattled insurgents who control drug routes, border territory and illegal mining around the Orinoco belt. Vera, flanked by armed fighters in camouflage, warned that 'the shadow of the interventionist eagle looms over everyone equally' and urged groups to 'forge the great insurgent bloc that will push back the enemies of the greater homeland.' Colombian President Gustavo Petro, a former guerrilla himself, has seized on the threat of such a united front to call for coordinated action with Venezuela’s new leader Delcy Rodríguez to 'remove' drug‑trafficking guerrillas, amid talk of a possible U.S.–Colombia–Venezuela operation that could finally target ELN sanctuaries along the 1,400‑mile border. For Washington, the message is clear: Trump’s Venezuela campaign is reshaping the insurgent landscape and could harden armed resistance across a region where U.S. forces and interests are already in the crosshairs.
📌 Key Facts
- Néstor Gregorio Vera ('Iván Mordisco') issued a video appeal urging rival guerrilla groups to form a united 'insurgent bloc' against U.S. intervention after the U.S. raid that captured Nicolás Maduro.
- The call specifically targets Colombia’s ELN and other factions controlling territory, cocaine‑producing regions and illegal mining along the Colombia–Venezuela border and near Venezuela’s Orinoco oil belt.
- Colombian President Gustavo Petro has responded by urging a joint effort — including with Venezuela’s Delcy Rodríguez — to 'remove' drug‑trafficking guerrillas, amid reports of potential U.S.–Colombia–Venezuela operations against ELN strongholds.
📊 Relevant Data
US-led sanctions on Venezuela from 2017 to 2024 caused the country to lose oil revenue equivalent to 213% of its GDP between 2017 and 2023, exacerbating economic collapse and contributing to migration pressures.
They Are Making Venezuela's Economy Scream: The Eighteenth Newsletter (2025) — Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research
In 2023, coca bush cultivation in Colombia increased by 10% to 253,000 hectares, with potential cocaine production reaching 2,664 metric tons, accounting for over 67% of global coca crops.
Colombia: Potential cocaine production increased by 53 per cent in 2023, according to new UNODC survey — United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)
Venezuela's poverty rate stood at 51.9% in 2023, down from higher levels but still affecting over half the population, while Colombia's poverty rate was 33% in 2023, with border regions experiencing additional strains from migration.
Venezuela: A 2025 Snapshot — Americas Quarterly
As of 2024, Colombia hosts nearly 3 million Venezuelan refugees and migrants, representing over 50% of the total Venezuelan exodus, with females comprising 51.81% of the migrant population in border areas.
Colombia's Refugee Crisis and Integration Approach Explained — USA for UNHCR
The Venezuelan economic crisis, including hyperinflation and shortages, has driven migration to Colombia, where Venezuelan migrants contributed USD 529.1 million to the economy in 2022 through labor and consumption, though it reduced native employment rates by affecting labor market dynamics.
Venezuelan Migrants Drive USD 529.1M Boost to Colombia's Economy: IOM Study — International Organization for Migration (IOM)
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