The Massacre of El Amparo was a massacre of 14 fishermen which took place near the village of El Amparo, in Venezuela's western state of Apure, on 29 October 1988.
[1][2] A joint military-police unit claimed the fishermen (who had no police records and were not known to either Venezuelan or Colombian military intelligence[3]) were a group of guerillas who attacked them with guns and grenades, with an alleged 15–20 minute exchange of gunfire occurring at a range of 20–30m.
[4] An autopsy performed by Colombian officials on a Venezuelan victim found that he had been shot in the back, his skull crushed by heavy blows, and his face disfigured by acid.
[3] A case taken to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR) concluded in 1996, with the IACHR ordering Venezuela to pay over $700,000 in reparations to next of kin and surviving victims.
[2] The 2016 film El Amparo portrays two survivors of the massacre, who have to face the pressure of being accused of being guerrillas and retaliation.