Venezuela steps up deportation of Colombians

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro ordered the border between Tachira and the Colombian department of Norte de Santander closed last week in response to an attack by unidentified assailants on a military patrol, which wounded a civilian and three soldiers on an anti-smuggling operation. The dramatic action was triggered by the shooting of three army officers by gunmen Maduro claimed belonged to paramilitary gangs beholden to former Colombian President Alvaro Uribe.

In Venezuela it has become customary to see long lines of people waiting to buy goods produced domestically and those imported by the government or by business owners who obtain foreign currency from the state to do so, and that 40 percent of those products are smuggled out of the country to Colombia, officials said.

Mr Maduro said the normally busy Simon Bolivar worldwide bridge would remain closed and restrictions may be extended to other transit crossings until Colombian authorities do their part to bring order to the 1,400-mile border.

Opponents of Maduro’s administration have denounced the mobilization of troops as an attempt to distract attention from a deep economic crisis.

As Mr Maduro stepped up his verbal attacks, authorities across the border struggled to help the Colombians driven from their homes in Venezuela.

Since then, Colombia has accused Venezuela of stepping up deportations and at times separating children from their parents, which has also drawn criticism from human rights groups.

Interior Minister Juan Fernando Cristo and Foreign Minister Maria Angela Holguin were in the northeastern city of Cucuta to address the issues created by the deportations and meet with Colombians in the area.

Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos has said the border closure hurts communities on both sides and vowed to stand up for the rights of Colombians.

Governor Jose Gregorio Vielma Mora of Tachira state said Sunday that 791 Colombians living in Venezuela illegally had been handed over to Colombia’s consulate general as a result of the four-day crackdown against smugglers and criminal gangs operating along the 1,400 mile (2,200 kilometer) border.

“People are carrying everything they can”, Virgelida Serrano, a 60-year-old seamstress who has lived in Venezuela for more than a decade, said between tears.

Uribe blasted Maduro’s “dictatorship” as he visited Cucuta, on the border of Venezuela on Monday.

“The deportation of Colombians from Venezuela hampers the climate needed to pursue Colombian paramilitaries that have been breaching the borders”, Samper was quoted by Venezuelan newspaper El Universal.

A South American regional organization is ready to work to find a solution to the ongoing border crisis between Venezuela and Colombia, the head of the group said Tuesday.

“We’re convinced that closing the border isn’t how we fight contraband”, Holguin said.