HomeNewsAnalysisWhy did Juan Guaidó Take Photos With Criminals at the Colombia Border?
ANALYSIS

Why did Juan Guaidó Take Photos With Criminals at the Colombia Border?

COLOMBIA / 19 SEP 2019 BY VENEZUELA INVESTIGATIVE UNIT EN

Controversial photos showing Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó posing with the heads of a Colombian paramilitary group, who allegedly helped Guaidó cross from Venezuela into Colombia, confirm the extreme level of control that criminal gangs have along sections of the two countries' border. 

On September 12, two photos were published of Los Rastrojos leaders standing with Guaidó, who is recognized as Venezuela's interim president by a number of foreign countries. 

Guaidó is shown with Albeiro Lobo Quintero, alias “El Brother,” and his lieutenant, Jhon Jairo Durán Contreras, alias “El Menor,” who led the Rastrojos crime group until they were captured in June. It is believed the photos were taken on a "trocha," or "remote trail" in the village of Guarumito, in the Venezuelan state of Táchira, along the Colombia border. These trails are used by migrants to cross the border and are also used by criminal groups to move drugs and contraband. 

SEE ALSO: Los Rastrojos Profile

The images were taken in February when Guaidó traveled to Colombia to attend Venezuela Live Aid, a concert aiming to raise funds for humanitarian efforts in Venezuela. At the time, Guaidó was under a travel ban issued by President Nicolás Maduro.

The photos were recently released by Wilfredo Cañizares, president of Fundación Progresar, a non-government organization dedicated to recording activities by criminal groups in the Colombian department of Norte de Santander. 

“Los Rastrojos were manning a passage for the crossing of Juan Guaidó, in which El Menor and El Brother participated," Cañizares told W Radio. The group forced families in the area to remain in their homes and stopped the movement of motorcycles during the 24 hours in which Guaidó passed through, according Cañizares. 

But Guaidó and his team told a slightly different story. Carlo Vecchio, the Venezuelan opposition's envoy to the United States, told El Espectador that Guadó told him that crossing the border had been dangerous. "In no moment did he (Guaidó) tell me that he received help from these irregular groups. Therefore, I think this version does not fit the truth."

Vecchio said the opposition leader had no ties to the Rastrojos.

When asked directly, Guaidó did not deny appearing in the photos, only saying that he took many pictures during the trip and he didn't ask about subjects' "backgrounds."

InSight Crime Analysis

There is no indication to date of any formal ties between the Venezuelan opposition and Los Rastrojos, but it seems clear that Guaidó and his team needed the group's permission to safely make it across the border. 

The trails connecting Guarumito, in the municipality of Ayacucho, with the Colombian border are controlled by Los Rastrojos. Therefore, any goods or people seeking to cross the border must negotiate with them.

To guarantee their control of the zone, Los Rastrojos are known to have established deals with Venezuelan army officers at four military checkpoints along the La Fría-San Félix highway, which leads to the border.

SEE ALSO: Colombia-Venezuela Border Reopens, But Hidden Trails Still Hotspots'

The area is patrolled by locals on motorbikes, who report the approach of suspicious or unknown vehicles to Los Rastrojos, InSight Crime has confirmed.

"Through WhatsApp, Los Rastrojos agree on payments with the officers at the checkpoints who allow goods and people to pass through. And they control illegal crossings on the Colombian side as well as in Venezuela," a local police official in Ayacucho told InSight Crime on condition of anonymity.

On the Colombian side, Puerto Santander, the nearest town, has also long been controlled by Los Rastrojos. They recently allied themselves to a faction of the Popular Liberation Army (Ejército Popular de Liberación – EPL) to extend their control to an almost 20 kilometer stretch of the border between Guaramito and Vigilancia. 

Given this context, it would have been almost impossible for Juan Guaidó to pass through the area without the permission of Los Rastrojos and their military allies in Venezuela. 

share icon icon icon

Was this content helpful?

We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

DONATE

What are your thoughts? Click here to send InSight Crime your comments.

We encourage readers to copy and distribute our work for non-commercial purposes, with attribution to InSight Crime in the byline and links to the original at both the top and bottom of the article. Check the Creative Commons website for more details of how to share our work, and please send us an email if you use an article.

Was this content helpful?

We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

DONATE

Related Content

COLOMBIA / 13 FEB 2023

Seizures of creepy marijuana from Colombia are popping around Latin America. But is the situation as creepy as it looks?…

CARTEL OF THE SUNS / 2 MAY 2022

On April 3, 2021, police in the east Venezuelan state of Anzoátegui acted on a tip-off to intercept a silver…

COCAINE EUROPE / 2 DEC 2022

An increase in seizures of tusi, or pink cocaine, in Spain could mean that this synthetic drug cocktail could be…

About InSight Crime

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Contributes Expertise Across the Board 

22 SEP 2023

This week InSight Crime investigators Sara García and María Fernanda Ramírez led a discussion of the challenges posed by Colombian President Gustavo Petro’s “Total Peace” plan within urban contexts. The…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Cited in New Colombia Drug Policy Plan

15 SEP 2023

InSight Crime’s work on emerging coca cultivation in Honduras, Guatemala, and Venezuela was cited in the Colombian government’s…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Discusses Honduran Women's Prison Investigation

8 SEP 2023

Investigators Victoria Dittmar and María Fernanda Ramírez discussed InSight Crime’s recent investigation of a massacre in Honduras’ only women’s prison in a Twitter Spaces event on…

THE ORGANIZATION

Human Trafficking Investigation Published in Leading Mexican Newspaper

1 SEP 2023

Leading Mexican media outlet El Universal featured our most recent investigation, “The Geography of Human Trafficking on the US-Mexico Border,” on the front page of its August 30…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime's Coverage of Ecuador Leads International Debate

25 AUG 2023

This week, Jeremy McDermott, co-director of InSight Crime, was interviewed by La Sexta, a Spanish television channel, about the situation of extreme violence and insecurity in Ecuador…