Colombian Rebels Intend to Oppose American 'Imperialism'

(Patria) - Colombian left-wing rebels operating on the border with Venezuela vowed on Sunday to resist Washington's "imperial plans" after the United States overthrew Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, AFP reported.

The National Liberation Army (ELN), which controls cocaine trafficking routes along the Colombian border with Venezuela, called on "all patriots" to "confront the imperial plans against Venezuela and the peoples of the global South".

Security experts say the ELN has rear bases in Venezuela that Maduro has tolerated. Dissident members of the defunct FARC rebel army, who are fighting the ELN for control of drug-producing regions near Venezuela, have also vowed to resist Trump.

Writing on social media X, they said they were ready to spend their "last drop of blood fighting the American empire".

Saturday's raid on Venezuela aimed at kidnapping Maduro and transferring him to New York to face drug and weapons charges has fueled fears in Colombia that it could be a future target of American attacks.

Trump warned on Saturday that his Colombian counterpart Gustavo Petro, with whom he has clashed in recent months, should "watch out for himself".

"He produces cocaine, and they send it to the United States, so he has to watch out for himself," Trump told reporters. Petro described Washington's attack on Venezuela as "an attack on the sovereignty" of Latin America.

He sent reinforcements to troops on the Venezuelan border. Colombia has also activated an alert for possible attacks by armed groups operating on both sides of the border.