This past weekend, the borders between Venezuela and Colombia were opened after a one year closure. Thousands of Venezuelans crossed over to Colombia to buy food, medicine, and other basic goods that are scarce in Venezuela.
Initially, borders were supposed to open for fourteen hours on Sunday 17, but the National Guard Officials who control the Venezuelan border were taken by surprise when at least 40,000 people showed up at 6:00 am on Saturday, demanding passage to cross over the Simón Bolívar Bridge which connects Venezuela’s Province of Táchira with Colombia’s City of Cúcuta.
Local Colombian authorities were collaborative, and didn’t hesitate to help Venezuelans get safely to the markets that were specially set up for the event.
During the weekend, it was estimated that a total of 130,000 Venezuelans managed to cross over to Cúcuta and stock up on basic goods, nonperishable food, and medicines.
This measure was taken as a reaction to the incident that took place on July 5th, when 500 women all dressed in white crossed that same bridge, passing through the military cordon that kept the border closed; the women yelled at Armed Forces officials who opposed that they “had no option”, and that they needed to buy food and medicines for their children back in Venezuela.
Governor of Táchira, José Vielma Mora, who is fond of the national government, stated after the breakthrough of women across the border that it was not going to happen again, and that the borders would remain closed, only to approve a few days later the temporary opening that took place the next week.
Governor Vielma Mora is currently participating in ongoing discussions with national and local Colombian authorities to negotiate a permanent passage across the border.
by ArmedPolitics Newsdesk
