More than 1,00,000 Venezuelans, some of whom drove through the night in caravans, crossed into Colombia over the weekend to hunt for food and medicine that are in short supply at home. It was the second weekend in a row that Venezuela’s government opened the long-closed border with Colombia, and, by 6 a.m. on Sunday, a line of would-be shoppers snaked through the entire town of San Antonio del Tachira.
Venezuela’s government closed all crossings a year ago to crack down on smuggling along the 2,219 km border. It complained that speculators were causing shortages by buying up subsidised food and gasoline in Venezuela and taking them to Colombia.
But shortages have continued to mount in Venezuela amid triple-digit inflation, currency controls that have restricted imports and investment and the world oil price slump that has caused a collapse in the oil revenues.
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Although the border was heavily patrolled by Venezuelan troops, the crowds were mostly orderly amid an atmosphere of tense excitement. Some of those waiting to cross made anti-government chants and sang the national anthem, but there was no appetite for confrontation. They were focused on the prospect of getting at fully stocked supermarket shelves and the opportunity to buy even non-essential indulgences like nail polish and beer before the re-closing of border crossings on Sunday night.