The 2021 Apure clashes started on 21 March 2021 in the south of the Páez Municipality, in the Apure state in Venezuela, specifically in La Victoria, a location bordering with Colombia, between guerrilla groups identified as Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC-EP) dissidents and the Venezuelan government led by Nicolás Maduro.

The conflict has provoked the displacement of at least 6,000 Venezuelans in Colombian territory, the destruction of the custom house in La Victoria, bombardments by the Venezuelan aviation, two casualties and several wounded of the Venezuelan Armed Forces. Colombian guerrilla leaders Iván Márquez and Jesús Santrich have been dismissed from responsibility of the attack by media outlets, who have attributed it to internal rebels of the armed group. Some civilians have accused security forces of committing abuses, including detaining and killing civilians, as well as both looting and burning homes. Mechanic José Castillo told Reuters that people were dressed in Venezuelan army uniforms in order to pass them off as guerrillas.

Venezuelan non-governmental organizations, such as Fundaredes and Provea, have denounced human right violations committed by Venezuelan security forces against Venezuelan civilians, warning that the death of five family relatives in El Ripial could constitute extrajudicial killings and drawing similarities with the Massacre of El Amparo in 1988, where Venezuelan military and police officers killed fourteen fishermen and presented them as guerrillas.

On 23 June 2016, the Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) rebels signed a historic ceasefire deal, bringing them closer to ending more than five decades of conflict. Although the deal was rejected in the subsequent October plebiscite, the same month, President of Colombia Juan Manuel Santos was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to bring the country's more than 50-year-long civil war to an end. A revised peace deal was signed the following month and submitted to Congress for approval. The House of Representatives unanimously approved the plan on 30 November, a day after the Senate also gave its backing.

Dissidents formerly part of the FARC have refused to lay down their arms after the FARC-government peace treaty came into effect in 2016. The dissidents number some 1200 armed combatants with an unknown number of civilian militia supporting them. These fighters are believed to be heavily involved in the production and sale of cocaine. Dissidents of FARC's 1st Front are located in the eastern plains of Colombia. Jhon 40 and their dissident 43rd Front moved into the Amazonas state of western Venezuela. Venezuela has served as the primary location for many FARC dissidents. On 15 July 2018, the Colombian and Peruvian governments launched a joint military effort known as Operation Armageddon to combat FARC dissidents. Peru issued a 60-day state of emergency in the Putumayo Province, an area bordering both Colombia and Ecuador. On the first day alone, more than 50 individuals were arrested in the operation, while four cocaine labs were dismantled. The group has attempted to recruit locals in the Putumayo Province in Peru to take up their cause.

On 28 July 2019, during the XXV São Paulo Forum hosted in Caracas, Nicolás Maduro declared that the FARC-EP dissidents leaders Iván Márquez and Jesús Santrich were "welcome" in Venezuela and to the São Paulo Forum.

Experts have argued that the motive for the clashes is the control of drug trafficking routes.

The Special Actions Forces (FAES), a task force of the Venezuelan National Police, has increased its presence in the area. Experts have affirmed that the FAES has gathered intelligence about the population and that they have not fought against guerrillas forces. Journalist Rocío San Miguel, specialized in military topics, has declared that the presence of the FAES in the area could be attributed to distrust of the executive branch in the Armed Forces.