Venezuela removes containers that blocked border bridge with Colombia since 2019

Containers that have been blocking circulation over the main border bridge between Venezuela and Colombia In the midst of a political and diplomatic conflict, they were removed this Monday by the Venezuelan authorities.

A forklift was dragging one of the metal obstacles painted with national colors crossed in the Simón Bolívar International Bridge, which connects the Venezuelan city of San Antonio del Táchira with Cúcuta, in Colombia, leaving a trail of dirt and marks on the asphalt, confirmed an AFP journalist.

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The government of the Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro It did not yet explain the scope of the measure, which will be extended to other steps with the neighboring country, according to military sources.

It is not clear if free movement will be allowed on this bridge, which was very fluid until it was closed. Some 40,000 people crossed daily in 2019.

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“What is promised is a debt, people of Táchira”, said Freddy Bernal, “protector” of the state, as the parallel authorities created by Mature to rule in states ruled by the opposition. Bernal aspires to the governor in the next regional elections, in November.

Venezuelan soldiers began work on Sunday night, removing metal fences that blocked the way to the Simón Bolívar bridge.

The government ordered the blocking of the binational steps at the beginning of February 2019, in the pulse of the entry of food and medical supplies managed by the opposition leader Juan Guaidó, recognized as interim president of Venezuela by more than 50 countries led by the United States and Colombia.

Obstacles and a strong military presence prevented the entry of the shipments from Cúcuta on February 23, which generated strong disturbances on the Venezuelan side.

Venezuelans cross the Simón Bolívar International Bridge from Venezuela to Cúcuta, Colombia, on September 6, 2021. (Schneyder MENDOZA / AFP).

Mature, which broke diplomatic relations with Bogotá due to its recognition of Guaidó, then ordered the closure of the border, claiming that the donations were a pretext for an “invasion” by the United States.

The closure was prolonged due to the covid-19 pandemic, although many continued to cross trails – informal crossings – on this porous 2,200 km border.

And despite the fact that Bogotá decided in June to unilaterally open its river and land borders with Venezuela, the passage is still not fluid due to restrictions by the Venezuelan authorities.

“It is time that we have the freedom to pass, come and go quietly without any inconvenience, as brothers we have always been”Rafael Gómez, owner of a truck parking lot in San Antonio, told AFP that he ensured the border closure affected the economy of the area. “We are broke!”

“It would be a gift for Colombians and Venezuelans”, said Jesús Prada, a laundry worker.

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