CLIMATE OF INTIMIDATION
Victims of the violence do not openly discuss the problem because of a climate of fear and intimidation.
"You could watch your brother get shot and you would say you did not see anything," said one detective who asked not to be identified.
He said he witnessed an execution within blocks of the investigative police headquarters while drinking a beer after work, firing shots in vain at the assassin who fled the scene.
Lawlessness and limited state presence have become a reality on the sparsely populated 1,400 mile (2,200 km) border. The terrain includes isolated mountain ranges and vast plains, like those surrounding Guasdualito, that flood during the rainy season.
Official figures show at least 47 murders since October in Guasdualito, but authorities recognize the actual toll is likely much higher.
Many said they know the identity of the hit-men, who often shoot at victims in public while riding motorcycles but do not speak out for fear of reprisals.
One relief agency worker who asked not to be identified said the execution-style killings were initially linked to guerrilla clashes but are now used to resolve anything from commercial disputes to accusations of infidelity.
"It has become a way for people to settle differences," he said.
Guerrillas for years charged extortion fees to ranchers but the practice is now so pervasive that it is applied to even small-time merchants and informal streets vendors, the detective said.
More than half of Venezuela's 249 kidnappings last year were in border states, according to local media.
Despite Chavez's insistence that guerrillas are not involved in kidnapping, authorities say common delinquents often capture hostages and later sell them to guerrillas.
Colombian President Alvaro Uribe's U.S.-backed military campaign helped isolate the FARC in Colombia but has also pushed guerrillas into new territory, increasing combat between rival armed groups that has spilled into Venezuela.
Guasdualito historian Marquez says the violence has turned the peaceful town he knew as a child into a place where people are afraid to walk the streets at night.
"I would prefer to live in a Guasdualito with no electricity, no water and no phones than to live in a Guasdualito with this level of violence," he said.
