VENEZUELA-COLOMBIA/MARCH-BORDER Venezuelans turn out in show of support for Maduro amid border crisis

Record ID: 142227

  • Title: VENEZUELA-COLOMBIA/MARCH-BORDER Venezuelans turn out in show of support for Maduro amid border crisis
  • Date: 28th August 2015
  • Summary: CARACAS, VENEZUELA (AUGUST 28, 2015) (REUTERS) PEOPLE MARCHING IN SUPPORT OF PRESIDENT NICOLAS MADURO PEOPLE APPLAUDING PLACARD WITH IMAGE OF FORMER PRESIDENT HUGO CHAVEZ MORE OF PEOPLE MARCHING PLACARD THAT READS "WE SUPPORT PRESIDENT MADURO" (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) MADURO SUPPORTER, JENNY GARCIA, SAYING: "To end with the re-selling of products because we're tired that food from here is taken to Colombia and the markets are empty. This is why we're here supporting Maduro and we want peace." PROTESTERS CHANTING PLACARD THAT READS "VENEZUELA DEMANDS RESPECT" AND "NO TO COLOMBIAN PARAMILITARISM" MORE OF PROTESTERS
  • Embargoed: 12th September 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA1HKO0GARAIUSG0GH9MJXIWOAR
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: THIS EDIT CONTAINS MATERIAL WHICH WAS ORIGINALLY 4:3
    Supporters of President Nicolas Maduro turned out to the streets of Caracas on Friday (August 28) in a show of support for their socialist leader amidst an ongoing diplomatic crisis with Colombia sparking when Venezuela closed two border crossings and deported over a thousand Colombians.
    Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro shut the crossings last week after a shootout between smugglers and troops wounded three soldiers. He later extended the closing indefinitely and has characterized the deportations as a crackdown on paramilitary gangs.
    Maduro says the deportations are part of a crackdown on Colombian paramilitaries who smuggle fixed-price goods and traffic drugs on the porous 2,219-km (1,379-mile) border.
    Protester, Jenny Garcia, blames cross-border trade for supermarket shortages in the capital.
    "To end with the re-selling of products because we're tired that food from here is taken to Colombia and the markets are empty. This is why we're here supporting Maduro and we want peace," she said.
    Speaking earlier this week, the Venezuelan leader called on the Colombian government to do more to protect the border.
    On Friday (August 28), Maduro announced that thousands of soldiers will be sent to the border region to root out Colombian paramilitaries.
    "I have decided to close the border at Zone 2 in the state of Tachira in the municipalities of Lovatera, Ayacucho, Garcia de Hevia and Panamericana, San Juan de Colon, La Fria and Coloncito. From 5am a special closure plan was applied and I have decided to mobilise three thousand men from the armed forces to search for these paramilitaries, including under rocks," he said.
    The spat recalls the frequent disputes between Venezuela and Colombia during the 14-year rule of Maduro's predecessor, Hugo Chavez. Critics say Maduro is copying his late mentor by stoking a crisis to distract Venezuelans from economic problems in the run-up to a parliamentary election in December.
    Despite the strain in relations, Maduro said he would travel to Asia to sign bilateral agreements with Vietnam and China.
    "Tomorrow I leave for Vietnam, tomorrow I leave for China to sign financial, economic and strategic agreements," he said.
    Nearly 1,100 Colombians living in Venezuela have been deported since the border closure, and Santos said between 5,000 and 6,000 more have fled voluntarily.
    Many of those deported said their houses had been destroyed. Hundreds have waded across the river on the border carrying refrigerators, animals and mattresses.
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