Venezuela announces expanded crackdown on Colombian border

(Baonghean.vn) - Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduroannounced it would expand a crackdown on illegal migrants from neighboring Colombia, while authorities across the border scrambled to deal with a caravan of deportees.

Venezuelan President at a press conference on August 24. Photo: AP.

Tensions between the two South American nations have reached their highest point in years after Venezuela closed a major border crossing last week and declared a state of emergency in several western cities. The abrupt move followed the shooting of three military officers by gunmen Maduro said belonged to paramilitary gangs beholden to former Colombian President Alvaro Uribe.

While the attackers have not been arrested, the incident has prompted Mr Maduro to order the deportation of some 1,000 Colombian citizens living illegally in Venezuela.

At a press conference on August 24, Mr. Maduro said that the Simon Bolivar international bridge would remain closed, and that restrictions could be extended to other transit points, until Colombian authorities fulfill their duty to restore order to the 2,200-km-long border.

“Venezuela will not tolerate this any longer,” the Venezuelan president declared, spending much of the two-hour press conference condemning Mr. Uribe.

As Mr. Maduro escalates his rhetoric, officials across the border have struggled to help Colombians deported from Venezuela. The number in recent days has exceeded half the 1,772 people deported from Venezuela last year, according to Colombian statistics, and has overwhelmed the shelter the government built in the border city of Cucuta to accommodate returning citizens.

Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos criticized the border closure, saying it harmed communities on both sides, and vowed to spare no effort to defend the rights of Colombians no matter which country they resettle in.

The foreign ministers of the two countries are now scheduled to meet tomorrow (August 26) in Cartagena, Colombia in an effort to end the crisis.

An estimated 5 million Colombians live in Venezuela and the movement of people and goods across the border has been routine for decades.

Thu Giang

(According to AP)