The government announced that it is forming a new army brigade for service on the Venezuelan border. The brigade will have three infantry, one tank and one special forces battalions. The tank unit will be equipped with 46 French made AMX-30 tanks. These have been bought from Spain and will arrive in August. Venezuela's leftist president has been supporting leftist rebels in Colombia, and the new border force is meant to make it more difficult for FARC forces to cross the border from their Venezuelan bases.