Colombia’s Warring Gangs Target Migrants at Venezuelan Border; Peace Process Stutters

Colombia’s Warring Gangs Target Migrants at Venezuelan Border; Peace Process Stutters
A Venezuelan migrant working as a "Raspachin" (farmer collector of coca leaves), at a coca plantation in the Catatumbo, Colombia, on Feb. 9, 2019. LUIS ROBAYO/AFP/Getty Images
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The Colombian government’s failure to fill a void left by Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) rebels, who demobilized in 2016, is causing a spike in human rights abuses as armed gangs jostle for control of land on the Colombia–Venezuela border, Human Rights Watch said in a report released Aug. 8.

Many of the victims are desperate Venezuelans fleeing their country’s crisis, the advocacy group says.