Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro is extending indefinitely the closure of a popular border crossing with Colombia and declaring a 60-day state of emergency in several western cities.
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Venezuela’s southern border with Colombia has been closed for 24 hours, Friday, and will remain closed over the weeekend. It also aims to combat crime, paramilitarism, and smuggling of Venezulean goods across the border, where they can be sold for much higher prices.
“Wednesday’s incident in which, unfortunately, three Venezuelan soldiers were injured in an attack by these smuggling mafias, caused an immediate reaction within the Colombian Police”, Colombia’s Foreign Minister Maria Angela Holguin told journalists.
The 2,219-kilometer (1,379 mile) border shared by the two countries is frequently traversed by smugglers and illegal armed groups.
“The decree of a state of emergency only 109 days before crucial parliamentary elections may be the escape valve used by the government to avoid a defeat that is both imminent and certain”, a statement issued by the Democratic Unity Alliance said.
The order especially involved the area of San Antonio del Tachira and Urena, in Venezuela’s northwestern state of Tachira where the incident took place.
“There was communication between the commander of the Venezuelan Guard and the commander of the Colombian Guard”, and Colombia immediately enhanced its border security on its side to prevent the criminals from entering the country, said Holguin. It also has rolled a fingerprint-scanning system to restrict the amount of any single product shoppers can buy.
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In total, the government says more than 6,000 people have been arrested for smuggling in the past year and it that more than 28,000 tons of food were seized in anti-smuggling operations.
