Police today disarmed a collar bomb placed around the neck of a Venezuelan rancher by Colombian rebels trying to extort money from him.
It took several hours for Colombian and Venezuelan secret police agents to disarm the bomb around the neck of Mr Jesus Orlando Guerrero (65) a ranch owner from the western frontier state of Tachira, said police.
Three armed men forced the bomb around Guerrero's neck on Monday night, attacking him on his cattle ranch six miles from the Colombian border.
The attackers threatened to detonate the bomb in 72 hours unless they received 300 million bolivars (€143,000 ).
The bomb was constructed out of a galvanised tube filled with C-4 explosives. It was painted gold with the words FARC-EP, an acronym standing for the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, Colombia's largest rebel army.
Colombia's 38 year civil war, pitting Marxist rebels against the government and outlawed right-wing militias, often spills across the 1,500 mile border with Venezuela.
AFP