Both the ELN and FARC-EMC have long fought for control over this drug-rich area, but recent violence marks a significant escalation.

The Colombian border village of Tres Bocas has become a ghost town as residents flee to neighboring Venezuela to escape a new wave of violence in Colombia’s Catatumbo region that has left at least 80 people dead and displaced thousands.

Colombia called on neighboring Venezuela Thursday to help tackle guerrillas blamed for a week of bloody violence that has displaced 40,000 people in the lawless border region.