Las Vegas Review-Journal (Sunday)
■ Venezuelans took advantage of the reopening of the border with Colombia.
Thousands cross to buy supplies in Colombia
CÚCUTA, Colombia — Thousands of people crossed into Colombia on Saturday to buy food and medicine after Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro reopened a border between the countries that had been shut down for the past four months.
Long lines of Venezuelans stood at two international bridges near the city of Cúcuta waiting to have their documents checked by Colombian officials. Venezuelan border guards helped control the crowd.
The South American nation’s government ordered the borders with Aruba, Bonaire, Curacao, Brazil and Colombia closed in February as the opposition tried to deliver food and medical supplies into the country.
Most of the aid was provided by the United States, a key ally of opposition leader Juan Guaidó, who declared himself to be Venezuela’s rightful president in January. But Maduro dismissed the aid as an infringement on Venezuela’s sovereignty and prohibited it from entering.
In May, the government reopened borders with Aruba and Brazil, but the Simon Bolivar International Bridge and the Francisco de Paula Santander International Bridge with Colombia had remained closed.
With the reopening, a flood of people seized on the opportunity to enter into the neighboring country and secure items that are all but unattainable in Venezuela.
The once-wealthy oil nation is facing severe shortages of basic goods and hyperinflation that is expected to surpass 10 million percent this year, according to a recent IMF estimate. The chaos has been aggravated by U.S. sanctions on Venezuelan oil exports and has forced an estimated 5,000 people to leave the country each day, according to the United Nations’ refugee agency.
On Saturday, UNHCR’s special envoy Angelina Jolie was visiting another part of the Colombia-Venezuela border to learn more about the conditions faced by migrants and refugees and raise awareness about their needs.
Following her visit, Jolie praised Colombia for receiving more than 1.3 million Venezuelan migrants and refugees, and urged the leaders of developed countries to do more to help displaced people.