Colombia-Venezuela Border to Partially Reopen Amid Economic Crisis

When it was opened last month, hundreds of thousands reportedly poured across.

ByABC News

August 12, 2016, 1:23 PM

Venezuela residents cross the border bridge to return home from Colombia on July 20, 2016. When authorities temporarily opened the crossing during two weekends earlier in July, as many as 150,000 people streamed across to buy goods that are scarce in Venezuela.
Nicola Filippo/The Washington Post/Getty Images

 -- Venezuelans, many of whom are suffering amid severe food and medicine shortages, should soon be able to cross into neighboring Colombia to buy basic necessities that are hard to come by in their homeland.

On Saturday, the two countries will begin the process of reopening their common border -- nearly a year after it was shut.

Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos and his Venezuelan counterpart Nicolás Maduro agreed on Thursday that that five checkpoints will be open for 13 hours per day for crossings by foot, according to an announcement on the Colombian Foreign Ministry’s website.

Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos, left, and Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro take part in a meeting to discuss ending a row that has kept their border closed for nearly a year, on Aug. 11, 2016 in Puerto Ordaz, Columbia.
Juan Barreto/AFP/Getty Images

The opening will almost certainly see Venezuelans pour across the border this weekend to buy food and medicine, as their country suffers from severe shortages amid an economic crisis.

Last month, the border was opened twice to allow Venezuelans to cross and shop for basic necessities, the BBC reported. In one weekend, more than 100,000 Venezuelans reportedly crossed into Colombia.

While Venezuela has the world’s largest proven oil reserves according to OPEC, power outages, long queues for food and rampant violence are commonplace.

A young woman carries toilet paper as she crosses the Colombian-Venezuelan border over the Simon Bolivar international bridge after shopping while a Colombian police officer looks on in Cucuta, Colombia, July 16, 2016.
Carlos Eduardo Ramirez /Reuters

The border openings come as Venezuela -- quickly becoming a pariah within the community of nations across the Americas -- is reportedly fighting to hold the rotating presidency of MercoSur, a leading trade bloc in South America.

MercoPress, a news agency based in Uruguay, reports that Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina (three of the bloc’s five members) have pressed the Venezuelan government to provide by Friday proof “that it has complied with all the pending requirements to confirm its Mercosur full membership condition dating back to 2012,” or face losing presidency of the group.

The agency says that Maduro, the Venezuelan president, called the group opposing his country’s leadership of the bloc “the triple alliance of torturer presidents.”