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, with some carrying children on their shoulders. Venezuelan border guards dressed in green uniforms helped control the crowd.
The South American nation’s socialist 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.
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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 have remained closed up until now.
With the reopening, a flood of people seized on the opportunity to enter into the neighbouring country and secure items that are all but unattainable in Venezuela.
The once-wealthy oil nation is now facing severe shortages of basic goods and hyperinflation that is expected to surpass 10 million per cent this year, according to a recent IMF estimate. The chaos has been further 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 Nation’s 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. The Hollywood actress is scheduled to meet with aid workers and Venezuelans and tour a tent village built by the U.N. in the region of La Guajira.
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Before heading to the UN’s border camp, Jolie met with Colombia President Ivan Duque, who has pledged to keep his country’s border with Venezuela open despite the large influx of migrants.
Duque said that during the meeting with Jolie and UNHCR officials, both sides discussed steps that could be taken to facilitate the integration of Venezuelan migrants and refugees in Colombia, including legislation to grant Colombian nationality to thousands of children of Venezuelan migrants who have been born in Colombia and are currently stateless.
Duque said that granting these children citizenship would be a “humanitarian way to give them the opportunities and benefits” that will enable them to emerge out of poverty.
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Colombia’s National Civil Registry counts at least 3,290 children born since December 2017 who have been unable to obtain citizenship. Rights groups say the numbers could be as high as 25,000.
UNHCR said Friday that four million Venezuelans, or almost 15 per cent of the population, have left the country to escape its economic and political crisis.
The agency also said the number of Venezuelan refugees and migrants rose by one million after November, indicating a rapid escalation as conditions deteriorated and a conflict between the government of Maduro and opposition intensified this year.