Man detained in killings of 2 Venezuelan soldiers

CARACAS, Venezuela - A Venezuelan man was arrested in the shooting deaths of two National Guard soldiers near the Colombian border, a crime that authorities blame on right-wing Colombian paramilitary fighters.

Prosecutors said Tuesday that four men on motorcycles shot and killed the guardsmen at a checkpoint near the border. The slayings Monday raised tensions along the frontier and prompted Venezuela to temporarily shut some border crossings.

One suspect, 20-year-old Venezuelan Johan Manuel Mora, was detained in the border town of Urena shortly after the killings and two guns were seized from him, prosecutors said. Authorities are searching for the other three men, who they say got away.

Vice President Ramon Carrizalez said the government believes the guardsmen were killed by members of paramilitary groups, though he didn't provide details of the investigation or explain what sort of links Mora might have to the Colombian militias.

National Guard Gen. Franklin Marquez told state media it's possible the attackers sought retribution for troops' efforts to crack down on cross-border smuggling of gasoline and food. Colombian gangs have long smuggled Venezuela's subsidized gasoline, which costs as little as 12 cents a gallon (3 cents a liter), compared to more than $3.50 a gallon (more than 90 cents a liter) in much of Colombia.

Tensions have been running high in the border area, where the bullet-ridden bodies of 11 men, nine of them Colombians, were found last month after being abducted from a soccer field. Carrizalez said those victims apparently belonged to rightist Colombian paramilitary groups, though he didn't address suspicions they could have been killed by Colombia's leftist rebels.

Venezuela separately arrested at least 10 people last week in the border state of Tachira alleging involvement in paramilitary groups and saying they handed out fliers threatening to kill some in the area.

Colombian rebels have often used Venezuela's border region as a haven to resupply and treat their wounded in recent years, creating friction with Colombia's U.S.-allied government, which is battling the guerrillas in a conflict that also involves outlawed paramilitary groups.

Venezuelan troops are seen as enemies by the paramilitary groups because leftist rebels move freely in Venezuela and aren't confronted by authorities, said Alejandro Garcia, a councilman in Urena.

Garcia told The Associated Press he suspects that guerrillas killed the 11 abducted people last month and that the slayings of the guardsmen could be retribution. He said guerrillas active in the area include the Venezuelan group Bolivarian Liberation Forces, or FBL, and Colombia's National Liberation Army, or ELN.

Garcia said another possibility is that the guardsmen's attackers wanted to settle a score. He said some people have been growing furious with the National Guard over accusations of corruption and what they call humiliating searches at the border, including frequent seizures of cars and gasoline.

Troops have imposed stricter border measures in recent months after Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez froze relations with Colombia over disputes including a plan to grant U.S. troops access to more Colombian military bases.