In 2003, General Marcos Ferreira, head of Venezuela's Department of Immigration and Foreigners (DIEX) from 2002 (departing after having supported the failed coup against Chavez), stated that Ramón Rodríguez Chacín asked him to allow militants from Colombia, Hezbollah and Al Qaeda to cross borders into Venezuela and that in a three-year timeframe, 2,520 Colombians and 279 "Syrians" became citizens of Venezuela.