2021 Apure clashes participant National Bolivarian Armed Forces of Venezuela
The 2021 Apure clashes started on 21 March 2021 in the south of the Páez Municipality, in the Apure state in Venezuela, specifically in La Victoria, a location bordering with Colombia, between guerrilla groups identified as Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC-EP) dissidents and the Venezuelan government led by Nicolás Maduro.The conflict has provoked the displacement of at least 6,000 Venezuelans in Colombian territory, the destruction of the custom house in La Victoria, bombardments by the Venezuelan aviation, two casualties and several wounded of the Venezuelan Armed Forces. Colombian guerrilla leaders Iván Márquez and Jesús Santrich have been dismissed from responsibility of the attack by media outlets, who have attributed it to internal rebels of the armed group. Some civilians have accused security forces of committing abuses, including detaining and killing civilians, as well as both looting and burning homes. Mechanic José Castillo told Reuters that people were dressed in Venezuelan army uniforms in order to pass them off as guerrillas.Venezuelan non-governmental organizations, such as Fundaredes and Provea, have denounced human right violations committed by Venezuelan security forces against Venezuelan civilians, warning that the death of five family relatives in El Ripial could constitute extrajudicial killings and drawing similarities with the Massacre of El Amparo in 1988, where Venezuelan military and police officers killed fourteen fishermen and presented them as guerrillas.