Back

LatinNews Daily - 25 August 2015

Tensions rise as Venezuela-Colombia border crisis rumbles on

Development: On 24 August Colombia’s President Juan Manuel Santos said that his government was prepared to “firmly” defend the rights of all its nationals that live in Venezuela.

Significance: Santos’s comments came on the back of reports that hundreds of Colombian nationals have been forcibly deported from the Venezuelan state of Táchira after President Nicolás Maduro declared a state of emergency in the area. With Maduro maintaining that there is no possibility that this will be lifted any time soon, the concern is that this is creating a humanitarian crisis, with hundreds of Colombian migrants left homeless and jobless in the wake of the Maduro government’s security crackdown. The issue is producing tensions between the two Andean neighbours, which is already drawing the attention of the Organisation of American States (OAS).

  • Santos publicly addressed the border situation for the first time yesterday after his government reported that over 1,000 Colombian nationals had been deported from Táchira by the Venezuelan security forces since the state of emergency was declared on 20 August. Santos said that his government has established a humanitarian relief centre near the border city of Cúcuta that is providing assistance to 751 people (including 612 minors) expelled from Venezuela, who found themselves homeless on the Colombian side of the border.
  • Santos said that the well-being of these individuals and the protection of their rights was a priority for his government: “We will be firm in the defence of our nationals, wherever their safety is threatened and their fundamental rights violated”. But he added that “this requires wisdom and prudent diplomacy”, pointing out that officials from his governement headed up by Foreign Minister María Angela Holguín and Defence Minister Luis Carlos Villegas had arranged a meeting with their Venezuelan counterparts in Cartagena de Indias, Colombia, tomorrow (26 August) to discuss the border situation in the hope of finding a quick solution that will result in the measures imposed by Caracas being lifted.
  • But Maduro yesterday rejected the possibility that the state of emergency could be quickly lifted. He said that although the Venezuelan security forces had restored some order in the border area and were working with their Colombian counterparts to fight criminality, this would not necessarily lead to normalcy returning to the border area soon. “The border will remain closed until minimum conditions of respect are established”, Maduro said stating that this will only happen once major smugglers, paramilitaries and other criminal groups active in the area are dismantled. “Whatever they say in Bogotá, in Cúcuta, I don’t care! No one is going to stop me”, Maduro said mooting the possibility of even extending the state of emergency to other border states.

Looking Ahead: The situation was also addressed yesterday by OAS Secretary General Luis Almagro. Following a meeting he held with President Santos in Bogotá, Almagro stressed the necessity of finding a solution that “guarantees the rights of Colombians living in Venezuela”, adding that the OAS is prepared to help find such a solution.

End of preview - This article contains approximately 498 words.

Subscribers: Log in now to read the full article

Not a Subscriber?

Choose from one of the following options

LatinNews
Intelligence Research Ltd.
167-169 Great Portland Street,
5th floor,
London, W1W 5PF - UK
Phone : +44 (0) 203 695 2790
Contact
You may contact us via our online contact form
Copyright © 2022 Intelligence Research Ltd. All rights reserved.