The Venezuelan Generalate does not take lightly the words of the chief of the United States Southern Command, Laura Jane Strickland Richardson, who calls on the Nicolás Maduro administration to actively participate “in drug trafficking activities and harbor regional terrorist groups within its borders.” This explains the strong propaganda campaign that social networks and the media of the Bolivarian National Armed Forces (FANB) have deployed to try to show that the Venezuelan regime confronts drug traffickers and irregular groups.
The main focus of this campaign is fueled by activities carried out in the state of Apure and its most daring propagandist is the Strategic Operational Commander (Ceofanb) GJ Domingo Hernández Lárez, who invented the term TANCOL (Colombian terrorists, murderers, drug traffickers) and daily displays photographs and videos, with scene, of the activities carried out by the FANB.
It is no coincidence that Laura J. Richardson, who has a 35-year military career, is a four-star general and holds the highest rank of the generalate in the United States military ranks, of which there are currently only 45. At the hearing of the North and South Commandos, on March 24, 2022, where the different global conflicts were analyzed, emphasis was placed on Venezuela, being relevant that Richardson mentioned the FARC and ELN guerrilla organizations as irregular groups in Venezuelan territory.
These two organizations, the National Liberation Army (ELN) and the dissidents of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), have been waging, since December 30, 2021, a fierce war for control of territory in the border strip that covers, on the Venezuelan side, the Apure state and on the other the Colombian Department of Arauca .
Although the head of the Southern Command (Southcom) spoke of Venezuela's humanitarian crisis as one of the worst in the hemisphere, what is important is that she described what is happening as “a major threat to the security of the region.” She does not fail to mention Venezuela together with Cuba, when mentioning threats are concerned.
What shows that the US is watching very carefully what is happening in the south of the continent is that Richardson stressed that the week before Russia invaded Ukraine, “Russian Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Borisov visited Venezuela, Nicaragua and Cuba, nations that maintain close ties with Russia and that offer Russia a foothold in the western hemisphere”.
This is how the US general reveals that the US is monitoring Russia's “influence over the area,” although she continues to describe Russia as a threat to Latin America and “is increasing its commitments in the hemisphere, while Putin seeks to keep his options and relations open in our neighborhood.”
Speaking before the US Congressional Armed Services Committee, Richardson expressed the challenge posed to the United States by the advance of Russia and mainly China over Latin America, warning that “China's negative influence in this region could soon resemble predatory influence and that he now has in Africa.”
¿Tancol?
The Strategic Operational Commander of the Armed Forces is the real command power in the military institution, and in Venezuela the position is held by General in Chief Domingo Hernández Lárez, an officer who came on merits to rise in the different grades. Unlike the previous Strategic Commander, Admiral in Chief Remigio Ceballos Ichaso, Gen. Hernández has ancestry and had enjoyed leadership, but he looks out of place in the important position.
While he was Commander of the Army, the war was fought, between March and April 2021, where the Armed Forces were defeated by FARC dissidents in Apure state; the senior officer was focused on the campaign he called “I also have my tank”, an interesting activity to rescue the Army's weapons system that was later extended to the other components, but it was an activity that could be carried out by any other officer, not the commander general of the first component of the FANB, in the framework of the war that the guerrillas waged against the Venezuelan military, some were kidnapped, others injured and 16 killed.
Perhaps because that campaign gave him recognition within the FANB and in the high government, General Hernández Lárez liked videos with messages, music, some with the voice of Hugo Chavez or the statement of an officer, as well as photographs with the military in war scenarios.
Since then, the head of Ceofanb has published numerous messages on social networks, focusing for weeks on those related to the fight against drug trafficking, trying to show that the Armed Forces have a frontal fight against drug traffickers and irregular groups that it dares not call guerrilla but Tancol.
Yesterday Hernández said that “the FANB started a War Correspondent course to instruct, train and unite journalists who are going to accompany military units to the cross-border axis in irregular combat work”, which shows the interest he has in his propagandist work.
Against drug trafficking
Some of the messages he publishes are interested in demonstrating the interest that the Armed Forces and the Venezuelan regime have in combating drug traffickers, although almost all of the time there are only empty camps, airplanes without pilots, airstrips without airplanes, etc.
Let's look at some of these messages: “FANB within the framework of Operation Bolivarian Shield 2022 Vuelvan Caras continues to discover drug trafficking facilities on our soil who take advantage of the intricate and distant nature of our forest reserves, and the permeability of their country. Everything found Made in Colombia”.
“URRA Amazonas, in search of the sector entrusted to the Apure state, locates materials and equipment used by Colombian narco-terrorists to process their products of death and destruction! FANB demonstrating effective combat against drugs”.
“URRA Trujillo locates Cocaine Laboratory, Edo Apure: 800 kg of Caustic Soda, 600 liters of Sulfuric Acid, 700 liters of Hydrochloric Acid, 500 Kg of Ammonium Nitrate, 800 liters of Acetone, 900 kg of Urea, 300 kg of micronized Sulphur, 200 Kg of Made in Colombia coal powder”.
“URRA Carabobo dismantles 12 explosive devices in the Páez Municipality within the native Apurean forest. The TANCOL invaders will be expelled by the brave people of Bolivar!”
“Central Bolivarian Militia in sovereign search and trace operations takes TANCOL camp dedicated to the manufacture of cocaine with Made in Colombia equipment and materials. Where the people can the homeland grow!”
“Operation Bolivarian Shield “Catatumbo” in the state of Zulia the FANB in its fight against drug trafficking traces a cache of cocaine in the Municipality of Semprún”.
“URRA Táchira in its assigned quadrant destroys TANCOL camp in our sovereign territory! Apure is ours!”
“FANB patrolling and searching in the Santa Rita sector of the Páez Municipality, URRA Monagas located and dismantled a Colombian bombona-type explosive device with more than 25 Kg of gunpowder, placed in a sidewalk by the TANCOL to attack passers-by.”
“The force of fear implanted in the area by Colombian drug terrorists with booby traps has been determining factors in accustoming villages to passivity for fear of reprisals, FANB continues to search forests to locate and destroy camps.”
“URRA Anzoátegui of the FANB locates 500 kg of Powder with Aluminum, 50 meters of Mecha Lenta, 251 5.56 rifle magazines and improvised explosives in TANCOL burrow. Here are the children of Venezuela defending our territory.”
“FANB continues to exercise sovereignty and destroy all kinds of terrorist infrastructures of Colombian drug trafficking and defuse explosives placed on our tracks to humiliate our Venezuelan population! Apure is Venezuela! Get out of the TANCOL of our homeland!”
“URRA “Sucre” captures TANCOL war material in Guafitas, Páez Municipality. Apure is ours we do not accept meddling by invaders of any nature into our national territory! Venezuela belongs to the Venezuelans!”
“In the Caño Hondo sector, Páez Municipality of the Apure state, in the patrol and scrutiny of the URRAS Guárico and the Capital Militia of the FANB, a TANCOL tank was found inside the gallery forests with: 50 drums of 220 liters with acetone and 50 drums with tiner for a total of 22,000 liters, 16 bags of 40 kg of UREA (640) Kg, one press, one flute, a mother cylinder among others. In addition, 04 explosive devices that were around the TANCOL deposit were deactivated.”
“The FANB in the fight against the scourge of drugs sponsored by the TANCOL groups seizes 6,600 kilograms of cocaine in addition to weapons of war and ammunition. Independence or nothing!”
Although the Minister of Defense has said that the guerrillas settled overnight on our border, the information published by the Armed Forces networks shows that the allegations about the presence of the guerrillas, for years, in Venezuelan territory, with laboratories and camps, have always been true.
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