Colombia Reports

Heavy fighting broke out between motorcycle taxi drivers and the Venezuelan National Guard Saturday after attempts by the transportes to illegally cross the Colombia-Venezuela border.

The motortaxis were crossing the border nearby the Simon Bolivar bridge, but were stopped by the Venezuelan National Guard. The drivers were forced to abandon their vehicles after short were fired by the Venezuelan military. Venezuelan authorities then conficated and burned the abandoned behicles, resulting in angry reactions from the drivers.

The transporters started throwing stones at the Venezuelan soldiers who are blocking traffick on the brigde. The soldiers returned the attack with firearms.

At least one protester was shot in the arm and taken to hospital. Five members of the National Guard were injured and four Colombians were arrested.

Venezuelan authorities closed the border crossings near Cucuta after two members of the National Guard were assasinated, allegedly by associates of Colombian militias. Following the incident, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said he'd sent 15,000 troops to increase border security.

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Comments (5)

Andrewmann552 said:

	... Colombian workers should overthrow their puppet government, unite with Venezuelan workers and form a South American Federation.
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November 07, 2009
Votes: -5

Laureles191 said:

... Unite with venezuelan workers?! Last I checked Colombians approved of Uribe more than Venezuelans did of their president. But seriously, is this your response to every article? Some silly "puppet government" comment? Maybe you think you can start a revolution if you say it enough times. This is probably the last place colombian workers would be, an english internet news source. You are so far out in space it's ridiculous. I laugh when I read your comments, and then have a sense of sadness hit me when I realize I just lost 10 seconds of my life. Try writting something actually plausible and relavant to the article. And Adriaan, I know your probably up late writing this stuff and I value your opinion, but you might want to look into spell check

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November 08, 2009
Votes: +0

Andrewmann552 said:

... Well Laureles you also forget that 50% of Colombia can't feed itself, and 7 corporate entities control 97% of Colombia's wealth according to the official figures. Uribe stays in power because there is no real social alternative, plus he has the population scared to death with the idea that only he, the Great Leader, can keep them safe from evil Chavez and the FARC. You mock my warnings now, but this is the way the Venezuelan and Bolivian ruling class mocked the movements now in power.

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November 08, 2009
Votes: +2

Andrewmann552 said:

	... Oh and Laureles, if you actually read the articles on this site you would have seen yesterday's piece which reported that Uribe's approval has fallen to 60%, about the same as Chavez's in Venezuela. Oops.
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November 08, 2009
Votes: -2

Laureles191 said:

... OH and Andrewmann552, if you actually did some research on your own, you might find 14% separating their approval ratings. Uribe 64%, Chavez 50% OOPS!! I guess you're used to submitting false imformation by now. Sorry to have to break the crushing news to you... http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=110697§ionid=351020704 http://www.nasdaq.com/aspx/stock-market-news-story.aspx?storyid=200911061650dowjonesdjonline000634&title=colombian-uribes-approval-rating-down-to-7-year-low-at-64%

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November 08, 2009
Votes: +0