Colombia urges Venezuela to reconsider decision to close borders
Colombia has urged Venezuela to reopen its borders with its western neighbor after Caracas declared an “indefinite” closure of borders in response to an assault by unidentified assailants on a Venezuelan military patrol.
“If it's for security reasons, the response should not be to close the border. It rather should be to cooperate more effectively with Colombian authorities,” said Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos on Saturday.
The two countries have the same interest in eliminating gangs of smugglers that operate on the border, and should work more closely together, Santos added.
Santos’ remarks were made after Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro announced on Friday his decision to extend indefinitely the closure of its border with Colombia, declaring a 60-day state of emergency in parts of the frontier as tensions were running high in the region.
He had initially ordered a 72-hour closure of the border after three Venezuelan soldiers were attacked by gunmen while performing an anti-smuggling operation in the city of San Antonio, in the restive western state of Tachira, on Wednesday.
The incident left three Venezuelan soldiers and a civilian wounded.
Maduro also said on Friday that the move was “part of measures to restore order, peace, tranquility, and justice”, adding that the border stretch would not reopen “until the attack on Venezuela's economy from inside Colombia stops.”
The emergency state in five municipalities of the northwestern Venezuelan state of Tachira would help boost the fight against paramilitary groups and smugglers along the Venezuelan border region with Colombia, he further said.
Still, Maduro welcomed news that a meeting of the neighbors' foreign ministers had been scheduled for the coming week to address the row.
A contingent of 1,500 Venezuelan soldiers has arrived in the border area to join the 500 already stationed there.
The 2,200-kilometer (1,400-mile) border between the two South American countries is rife with guerrilla and smuggling activities.
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