Thousands of Venezuelans again poured into the Colombian city of Cucuta yesterday, profiting from the brief reopening of a long-closed border to buy food and medicine.
Border crossings over two international bridges were opened early morning without restrictions, although identity cards were checked.
The authorities from the Venezuelan National Guard, police from both countries and consular authorities were on hand to help control the flow of people.
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro had ordered the border closing in August 2015 after an alleged Colombian paramilitary unit attacked a Venezuelan military patrol, leaving three people wounded and raising tensions between the two governments.
The reopening of the border had originally been planned for yesterday, but Maduro’s government moved it up a day, allowing thousands of Venezuelans to pour into Cucuta on Saturday.
The influx has come during a 40-day freight truckers’ strike in Colombia, which heightened fears that shortages could hit major cities including Cucuta.
Venezuela has suffered crippling shortages for months, a ripple effect from the falling price of oil, the country’s primary export.
Critics also blame grave mishandling of the state-led economy.
Colombian Defence Minister Luis Carlos Villegas has said that security forces would guarantee the arrival of supplies for Cucuta’s residents as well as for Venezuelan shoppers.
During a first brief border opening on July 10, an estimated 35,000 Venezuelans poured across a pedestrian bridge connecting the Venezuelan city of San Antonio del Tachira to the outskirts of Cucuta.
The July 10 opening led to dramatic scenes of the elderly and mothers storming Colombian supermarkets and highlighted how daily life has deteriorated for millions in Venezuela, where the economy has been in a freefall since the 2014 crash in oil prices.
Colombia’s foreign ministry said that at least 35,000 Venezuelans entered Colombia on Saturday, and their entry took place “in an orderly manner and under conditions of security.”
Governor Jose Vielma of the Venezuelan border state of Tachira said that President Nicolas Maduro supported the opening, ordering that people “not be disturbed” when they crossed into Colombia.
Maduro blames the shortages of food, medicine and basic staples in Venezuela on his opponents, whom he accuses of trying to sow economic chaos to oust him from office. His critics accuse his socialist government of economic mismanagement.
Maduro ordered the 2,219km border shut in August 2015 to clamp down on criminal gangs smuggling over the border goods and gasoline sold at subsidised prices in Venezuela.
Before it was closed, more than 100,000 people daily used the two main crossings, according to the Venezuelan government. That has shrunk to just 3,000 a day, many of them students and sick people given special day passes, nonprofit groups working in the region say.