The expulsion will be welcomed by Bogota, which earlier in the year accused Chavez of not stopping Marxist rebels from operating in his nation. The news came a day after Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos promised to extradite suspected drug kingpin Walid Makled to Venezuela.
Oswaldo Espinosa, Nilson Navarro and Priscila Ayala Mateus were wanted in Colombia on charges of murder, kidnapping and war crimes, authorities of both nations said.
Colombian police said Espinoza is a member of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, while the other two belong to the National Liberation Army, ELN. “They were arrested for participating in crime linked to kidnapping and resisting authority,” Venezuela’s foreign ministry said in a statement. U.S. ally Santos, a hardline defense minister before becoming president in August, has turned around relations with former foe Chavez, whom he called “his new best friend” last week.
In the days leading up to Santos’ inauguration, the administration of outgoing President Alvaro Uribe laid into Chavez for a “continued and permanent” tolerance of leftist rebels. Chavez responded with heated words about war.
Chavez froze almost $7 billion in annual trade with Colombia as relations with Uribe deteriorated in the years following the 2008 bombing of a rebel camp in Ecuador.
The two governments are taking steps to re-establish cross-border commerce.
Venezuela has deported several suspected drug traffickers to Colombia this year and at Bogota’s request has sent some Colombian citizens directly to the United States.
Colombian police said Navarro and Ayala were captured in September during an operation to rescue a kidnapped Venezuelan in the western state of Carabob, while Espinosa was detained thanks to information shared by Interpol. On arrival, they were taken to a police base in Bogota.
