CARACAS – Venezuela said yesterday at least 10 members of an amateur Colombian soccer team had been found dead after being kidnapped on its side of the border.
The murders added another complication to fractious ties between the two South American neighbours.The Colombian soccer players, seized on October 11th, were found with bullet wounds in various parts of western Tachira state, Venezuelan vice-president Ramon Carrizalez told reporters.
One of the 12 men survived the ordeal, while another was still missing, authorities said.
Kidnappings and armed disputes are rife on both sides of the frontier, where Colombian guerrilla groups, paramilitary militia and criminal gangs all operate.
Mr Carrizalez said the deaths of the football players, whom local media have said were tradesmen in Venezuela for a match, were related to Colombia’s internal conflict. He gave no further details.
Colombia offered to co-operate with Venezuelan authorities in bringing those responsible for the deaths to justice.
“This deplorable act shows that terrorism is international, that it does not respect frontiers,” Colombian president Alvaro Uribe told reporters. – (Reuters)
