Venezuela bombs, fires on Colombian paramilitaries
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) - Venezuelan soldiers exchanged gunfire with Colombian paramilitaries and bombed a zone close to the border, President Hugo Chavez said Sunday.
Chavez said Colombian paramilitaries recently "invaded Venezuelan territory" and fired on an army patrol surveying the border area. A 90-minute gun battle ensued.
"They hit a (Venezuelan) helicopter ... but they were repelled and they went back to Colombian territory," Chavez said during his weekly TV programme.
In another recent incident along the border with Colombia, Chavez said he ordered the armed forces to drop bombs near where Colombian insurgents were hiding.
"I said to bomb the area, not on direct targets but over the adjacent area so as to warn them and establish a security cordon," Chavez said. "We did it, it was effective, and they withdrew toward Colombian territory."
Chavez's left-wing government has often been criticised for not doing enough to defend the 2,200-kilometre (1,370-mile) border with Colombia during its four years in power. It has also been accused of supporting leftist Colombian guerrilla groups, a charge Chavez denies.
Colombia's civil war, which has raged for 38 years, pits leftist rebels against right-wing paramilitaries. Violence associated with the conflict kills about 3,500 people every year.
Venezuelan Vice President Jose Vicente Rangel alleged Saturday that Colombia offers impunity to paramilitary groups on its side of the border. He rejected allegations that Colombian guerrillas had established bases on Venezuelan territory.
Earlier this month Venezuela said it would add more troops to the 5,000 already stationed along the border.