BOGOTA, Colombia — A bomb exploded Tuesday near a bridge that crosses Colombia’s border with Venezuela, injuring at least four police officers in the Colombian city of Cucuta, officials said. Norte de Santander provincial Gov. William Villamizar said on X that police were investigating who was responsible for the attack. The explosion was set off in front of the local branch of Colombia’s tax collection agency near the Francisco de Paula de Santander International bridge. Footage of the aftermath showed a truck and several motorcycles that were damaged by the blast. The attack comes as Colombia’s conservative government changes the nation’s security strategy and takes a more confrontational approach towards gangs and rebel groups. After being sworn into office in August, President Abelardo de la Espriella cancelled peace talks with the nation’s remaining rebel groups, alleging that negotiations had yielded few results over the past four years, with armed groups using ceasefires with the government to strengthen their grip over rural areas. De la Espriella, who goes by the nickname of “the Tiger,” has also re-established joint task forces aimed at protecting oil pipelines, and promised to tackle the cocaine trade by spraying coca fields with herbicides, a practice that was suspended in 2015 over health concerns. Early on Tuesday morning, de La Espriella supervised an operation against gangs in Medellin, in which the government said it captured 135 people suspected of trafficking drugs and running human trafficking rings. In a video shared by de La Espriella’s office Tuesday, the president scolds some of the suspects captured by police. “The party is over,” he tells a suspect. “You will see how hard the Tiger bites.” Critics have accused de la Espriella of using law enforcement operations for propaganda purposes, and have expressed doubts about the capacity of Colombia’s armed forces to disarm rebel groups solely through the use of force -- without eventually returning to negotiations. In Cucuta, next to the border with Venezuela, authorities are investigating the murder of a former deputy mayor, who was assassinated on Monday night while on his way home. In September, an attack on another police station in the border city killed a civilian and injured eleven people. According to ACLED, a group that monitors conflicts around the world, state forces and illegal armed groups carried out 34 attacks with bombs or explosives in Colombia during the four-week period that ended on Oct. 16 — a 9% increase from last year’s four-week average. The figure includes drone attacks waged by rebel groups, and attacks with explosives like the one in Cucuta, but also airstrikes launched by the nation’s military on rebel camps. Laura Calderón, an ACLED analyst, said that the government has increased its use of airstrikes since August, when de la Espriella took office. “The government is changing its strategy,” Calderón said. “And the armed groups are also changing theirs.” Manuel Rueda, The Associated Press
