Venezuela, Colombia to collaborate on border security following kidnappings

The governments of Colombia and Venezuela said on Thursday they are willing to coordinate security efforts to combat transnational crime following two

recent high-profile kidnappings along their 2,219-kilometer shared border.



Colombia is seeking Venezuelan help locating the wife of a Colombian mayor and an army officer.



Colombia's foreign ministry spoke with Venezuela's government "to coordinate efforts to rescue" Nancy Gomez, the wife of the mayor of the city of Uribia, in the northern-most department of La Guajira, some 30 km (19 miles) from the Venezuelan border



Colombian authorities believe she was kidnapped on November 11 and taken into Venezuela in an attempt to evade Colombian law enforcement



Colombian President Abelardo De La Espriella deployed military troops to the area to aid with the search for Gomez, and said the ELN armed group was believed to be behind her kidnapping