Venezuela military plane crashes near Colombia border

Venezuelan Bolivarian soldiers check the ID cards of bus passengers at a checkpoint near Urena, Venezuela, along the border with Colombia, Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2015. While some 5 million Colombians live in Venezuela, the crackdown on undocumented migrants has focused on a few towns near the border where Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro blames migrant gangs for rampant crime and smuggling that has caused widespread shortages. AP

CARACAS, Venezuela — Venezuela’s government said Friday that an air force jet crashed while monitoring an illegal flight, killing two officers. Officials said the illegal flight entered the country near the Colombian border.

The Defense Ministry said the military’s Sukhoi-30 went down Thursday night. The plane had detected an “illegal aircraft” that had entered Venezuelan airspace near the northwestern border with Colombia, according to the military.

President Nicolas Maduro confirmed the deaths of the two captains Friday evening on his Twitter account. He praised them as young heroes and said he was promoting them posthumously to the rank of majors.

Drug traffickers frequently cross the border and the countries also are in the midst of a border crisis. Venezuela has closed much of its border with Colombia and expelled more than 1,000 Colombians to combat paramilitary activity and widespread smuggling of goods that are subsidized at home.

Maduro closed the last remaining bridge connecting the two countries this week.

Colombia accused Venezuelan aircraft of at least two incursions into its airspace over the weekend.

Presidents of the two nations were expected to meet in Ecuador Monday to discuss the deteriorating situation.

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