Since the border crossings between Colombia and Venezuela were closed over the weekend, more than 1,000 Colombians have been deported from the neighboring socialist nation.

As previously reported, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro announced on Saturday that there would be 60 days of martial law for five municipalities in the state of Tachira. The president shut two border crossings down after a shootout between smugglers and troops wounded three soldiers.

With elections approaching in both countries, the Colombian government issued a statement on Tuesday cautioning that the ongoing crisis on the border between Colombia and Venezuela should not be used for any kind of election strategy by leaders in either country.

As reported in Reuters, the joint statement, issued by the foreign and interior ministries, said, "We call upon the political leadership in both countries to resist the easy temptation of using this complex situation to fish for electoral benefits as we approach elections in Colombia and Venezuela.

"It is unacceptable to take advantage of the situation at the border and the pain of so many Colombian for political gain," the statement chided.

Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos has criticized Maduro’s move toward martial law as harmful to ordinary people on either side of the border. As quoted in the BBC, he said, "If we co-operate, the only ones to lose are the criminals, but if the border is closed, there is no co-ordination and the only ones to gain are the criminals."

The border between the two Latin American countries is often used by smugglers, who purchase heavily-subsidized goods in Venezuela and then resell them in Colombia.

Venezuela's conservative opposition party believes that Maduro is using this border crisis, for which he has sent in an additional 1,500 troops, as a distraction from the food and medicine shortages that plague his nation.