In Pictures

Venezuelans flock across border due to food shortage

It was the second weekend in a row that Venezuela’s socialist government opened the long-closed border with Colombia.

Venezuelan citizens waiting to cross into Colombia to buy supplies. [Gabriel Barrero/EPA]

21 Jul 2016

Venezuela has opened its border with Colombia for the second time this month to allow people to buy food and medicine unavailable at home in their country’s collapsing economy.

Colombia’s government said 44,000 people crossed on Saturday to buy food, medicine and cleaning products, and said it expected that number to almost double on Sunday.

Last week, more than 35,000 people crossed over for the first time since the governor of Venezuela‘s state of Tachira opened the border.

Socialist President Nicolas Maduro shut the border last year in an effort to crack down on smuggling of subsidised products.

Venezuela‘s product shortages have since worsened, creating further incentives to buy goods in Colombia and bring them back.

Venezuelans routinely spend hours in lines at home seeking items ranging from cornflour to cancer medication to car parts. Shoppers complain of violence in lines, and looting is on the rise.

Bus terminals were packed and hotels filled to capacity in the border town of San Antonio, with many travelling hundreds of miles to shop.

A drop in oil prices has left Venezuela’s economy in tatters, and the lack of hard currency and inflation have starved the country of food, medicine and consumer goods.

More than 100,000 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. [Carlos Garcia Rawlins/Reuters]

Venezuelan women buy food staples at a local shop in Cucuta, Colombia, close to the border with Venezuela. [Carlos Eduardo Ramirez/Reuters]

Tebie Gonzalez holds a wad of Venezuelan Bolivar bills as she and her husband Ramiro Ramirez exchange what remains of their savings. [Ariana Cubillos/AP]

Crowds of people flooded the bridge that links San Antonio to the Colombian city of Cucuta to cross the border on foot. [Gabriel Barrero/EPA]

Colombia civil defence help people cross the Colombian-Venezuelan border over the Simon Bolivar international bridge. [Carlos Eduardo Ramirez/Reuters]

A man pushes a trolley with goods next to another carrying a speaker as they walk towards the Colombian-Venezuelan border. [Carlos Eduardo Ramirez/Reuters]

A few activists handed out anti-government pamphlets, looking to galvanise the frustration that has characterised food riots. [Carlos Eduardo Ramirez/Reuters]

The border was heavily patrolled by Venezuelan troops. The crowds were mostly orderly amid an atmosphere of tense excitement [Ariana Cubillos/AP]

A Venezuelan passes over the Simon Bolivar bridge with others after buying supplies in Cucuta. [Ariana Cubillos/AP]

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