Venezuela Deports Almost 800 Colombians Amid Tensions at Border
Venezuela is set to deport hundreds of Colombian nationals rounded up as part of a security offensive along the countries' border.
The move comes amid rising tensions between the neighbors, which began last week after three Venezuelan soldiers looking for smugglers were attacked along the border, The Associated Press reported. In response, the government of embattled President Nicolás Maduro temporarily shut down major crossings and announced a special mission to help protect citizens in western Táchira state.
As a result of the crackdown, 791 undocumented Colombians immigrants living in Venezuela have been handed over to the Colombian consulate general, Táchira Gov. Jose Gregorio Vielma Mora said on Sunday.
The foreign ministry in Bogotá, meanwhile, called on Venezuelan authorities to respect immigrants' human rights and consider their circumstances on a case-by-case basis, El Universal noted. Caracas needs to "analyze, in each case, the family situation in order to guarantee that parents and children not be separated before enforcing any deportation measures," the ministry demanded.
Colombian Foreign Minister María Ángela Holguín traveled to the border town of Cúcuta on Monday to see for herself how citizens are affected by the deportations and the continued checkpoint closures, according to the Spanish news agency EFE.
Jorge Armando Otálora, the Colombian government's ombudsman who accompanied Holguín on her trip, noted that 139 of the deported citizens were minors.
"Beyond the autonomous administrative and legal decisions in each nation, there are situations that violate the fundamental rights of our compatriots," Otálora warned.
On the Venezuelan side, Vice President Jorge Arreaza traveled to San Antonio del Táchira, a border town of about 50,000 inhabitants, to "verify the implementation of the actions ordered by President Nicolás Maduro," the semi-official Telesur television network reported.
When he announced the border closures and special operation in the state, Maduro had urged citizens last week to "show solidarity with the armed forces," according to Telesur.
"The military personnel who are at the border to defend the homeland," he said. "Enough of paramilitary terrorism! It's time for justice for Táchira."
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