SoldierVenezuela guards at the border with Colombia on August 20. (Source: AFP/VNA)

On August 27, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro affirmed that he would not open the border with Colombia if smuggling through the border gate continued, seriously affecting the country's economy.

According to a VNA correspondent in South America, Mr. Maduro asked the Colombian government to take measures to address the unstable security situation caused by far-right paramilitary armed groups as well as smuggling in the border area between the two countries.

He urged Bogota to ban the sale of goods that the Venezuelan government provides to its citizens at subsidized prices on Colombian territory and to eliminate underground money changers that devalue the bolívar.

President Maduro affirmed that until the above requests are not resolved, the country will not open its borders, and expressed his hope that his counterpart Juan Manuel Santos will come up with solutions to protect the security of Colombian citizens living in the border area with Venezuela.

According to Caracas, fuel smuggling activities in border areas have caused Venezuela to lose about 5.4 billion USD, in addition, 40% of the food sold at subsidized prices by the Venezuelan government to the poor is also smuggled into neighboring countries.

The situation on the border between Venezuela and Colombia became tense after an attack in San Antonio, in the Venezuelan state of Tachira, injured four people, including three government soldiers.

Immediately, President Maduro ordered the closure of the main border gate with Colombia from August 21 and pledged to establish a special force to protect people living along this more than 2,200 km long border.

Since Venezuela closed its border over the weekend, nearly 1,100 Colombians have been deported, causing chaos in the border area. On August 26, Venezuelan Foreign Minister Delcy Rodríguez and her Colombian counterpart Angela Holguín met to discuss measures to resolve the crisis at the border between the two countries, but failed to reach any results./.

According to VN+