Colombia closes the border with Venezuela to contain the coronavirus
Colombia closes from the dawn of this Saturday all the border crossings with Venezuela as part of new actions to contain the spread of the coronavirus in its territory. He does it “as a precautionary measure in the face of the situation that is also occurring in the neighboring country,” announced the president, Iván Duque, on Friday night in a speech after holding meetings with his government team.
The president has also decided to restrict, from March 16 to March, the entry into the country of citizens of other countries who are not residents of Colombia and have been in Europe and Asia for the last two weeks. Colombian passengers and residents must undergo mandatory preventive isolation for 14 days that had been determined by the health authorities since Wednesday for all travelers from Spain, France, Italy and China. At the other large land crossing, the border with Ecuador, controls will be reinforced but the passage will remain open.
Colombia, with 22 confirmed cases for this weekend since it detected the first positive test a week ago, has declared a health emergency due to the coronavirus crisis as part of the containment phase of the pandemic. The Executive has taken measures such as canceling the events of more than 500 people, suspending the disembarkation of cruise ships and promoting telework. The Government of Nicolás Maduro, for its part, confirmed until this Friday its first two infections by Covid-19.
For weeks, Colombia has stepped up immigration controls as part of its preparations to try to keep the virus at bay. The porous border of more than 2,200 kilometers with Venezuela, a country that has suffered the collapse of its health system, has been from the beginning one of the greatest concerns of the Colombian authorities, by far the main destination of the massive Venezuelan exodus with more than 1.7 million migrants in its territory.
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The potential spread of Covid-19 through the migratory flow has alarmed authorities, who had previously announced new controls in the border department of Norte de Santander, according to guidelines established by the Ministry of Health. The measures included the installation of handwashing points, a Risk Analysis Room and random monitoring of migrants, as well as the deployment of 10 field epidemiologists along the border.
The seven land points that formally serve as migratory crossings are those that will be closed as of 5.00 am this Saturday. “We will take all the measures, with the support of the Public Force, the health and transport authorities, to guarantee that the measure is fulfilled,” said the manager for the border of the Presidency, Felipe Muñoz.
Although Migración Colombia also announced permanent verification activities, de facto there are countless illegal steps known as trochas along an extensive boundary line through which all kinds of contraband have historically flowed. Various armed groups, both guerrillas and paramilitaries, operate in different parts of the border. In fact, Duque has repeatedly denounced in international forums that Maduro has turned Venezuela into a sanctuary for terrorist groups, especially the ELN and the dissent of the extinct FARC that strayed from the peace agreement.
Bogotá and Caracas have not had relations since February 2019. Duque has promoted the so-called “diplomatic siege” against the Chavista regime and does not recognize the Maduro government, which he frequently calls “dictator”. The Colombian president is also one of the main supporters of opposition leader Juan Guaidó, recognized as the president in charge of 60 countries, and that unrestricted support has raised tension between the two neighbors.
With information from El País.
