Western Hemisphere
The situation in the border between Colombia and Venezuela has been characterized in the last few days by excessive controls by the National Guard, bottlenecks at the customs, Venezuelan freight trucks retained in the city of Ureña, food shortages in the Venezuelan city of San Antonio and human rights violations.

This is the report made by businessmen working on the border of Venezuela and Colombia about the second day of frozen trade relations between the two neighbor countries.

José Rozo, the President of the Venezuelan Federation of Trade and Industry Chambers (Fedecámaras) in the state of Táchira, said that although there have been no top government guidelines to close the border with Colombia, the situation in the region is far from normal.

"The border is technically closed," warned the leader of Venezuelan entrepreneurs in the western state.

There are long lines of people at the customs offices of San Antonio, Táchira state, and National Guard troops are enforcing strict controls that create bottlenecks at the border checkpoints.

In the city of Ureña, which has one of the most active customs offices in the border, the Venezuelan cargo trucks have been retained and can not enter Colombia since National Guard officers watching the area prevent them from crossing the border.

"It seems that the San Antonio-Ureña axis is part of Colombia, because every time that the Venezuelan government wants to affect trade, we must pay for it," said the President of Fedecámaras in the state of Táchira.

Meanwhile, Helio Pulido, the President of the Venezuelan Chamber of International Cargo Transportation in the Border Area, also said that the checkpoints established by the National Guard to check the cargo trucks that try to cross the border with goods have affected considerably the transport activity between the two countries.

Pulido said that the inspection by the military troops is focused on trucks and trailers carrying food and fuel.

Due to this situation, Venezuelan customers who live in the border area have been affected by the shortage of sugar, vegetables and greens. Rozo explained that clients going to popular markets have realized the seriousness of the situation, since the shelves are half empty.

On this particular issue, Colombian newspaper Portafolio reported that about 500 cargo trucks are parked near the border with Venezuela awaiting the end of the impasse and the possibility cross into Venezuelan territory.

These trucks mainly transport coal and sugar, the Colombian newspaper reported.

The Colombian Minister of Trade said that the main products exported to Venezuela are beef, machinery, equipments and apparel.

Since this is not the first crisis between the two countries that hits bilateral trade, the President of the National Association of Colombian Industrialists said on Thursday that it is necessary to diversify the market and reduce trade dependence on Venezuela, according to a press release of the Colombian business association.

Translated by Gerardo Cárdenas

Suhelis Tejero Puntes
EL UNIVERSAL