Colombian guerrillas vow to confront US ‘imperialism’

A person holds a Venezuelan flag near Colombian soldiers, at the border between Venezuela and Colombia, after the US struck Venezuela and captured its President Nicolas Maduro, in Cucuta, Colombia, Jan. 4, 2026. (Reuters)

• Colombian left-wing guerrillas have rear bases within Venezuela that were tolerated by Maduro
• Trump on Saturday warned that his Colombian counterpart Gustavo Petro should “watch his ass”

BOGOTA: Colombian left-wing guerrillas operating on the border with Venezuela vowed Sunday to resist Washington’s “imperial plans” following the US ouster of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro.
The powerful National Liberation Army (ELN), which controls cocaine trafficking routes along Colombia’s 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 also has rear bases within Venezuela that were tolerated by Maduro.
Dissident members of the defunct FARC rebel army, who vie with the ELN for control of drug-producing regions near Venezuela, also vowed resistance to Trump.
Writing on X, they said they were prepared to spend their “last drop of blood fighting the US empire.”
Saturday’s attack on Venezuela to snatch Maduro and whisk him to New York to face drugs and weapons charges has created fears in Colombia that it could be a future target for US strikes.
Trump on Saturday warned that his Colombian counterpart Gustavo Petro — with whom he has sparred in recent months — should “watch his ass.”
“He’s making cocaine and they’re sending it into the United States, so he does have to watch his ass,” Trump told reporters.
Petro described Washington’s attack on Venezuela as an “assault on the sovereignty” of Latin America.
He sent troop reinforcements to the Venezuelan border.
Colombia also activated an alert for possible attacks by armed groups operating on either side of the border.