MEXICO (Sputnik) — Venezuelan-Colombian border, stretching for over 1,300 miles, has been closed by the order of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro since August 2015 amid crackdowns on migrants and smugglers who brought cheap petrol to Colombia. However, food and other essential shortages made 500 Venezuelans cross it anyway. The group was allowed to pass and soon returned with purchases.
"We will not let our Venezuelan brothers have problems with hunger or medication. If it is necessary to expand the humanitarian corridor, it will be expanded," Colombian Foreign Minister Maria Angela Olguin said as quoted by Globovision TV channel.
Venezuela has been in a state of an economic emergency since January and shortages has become widespread. Up to 96 percent of Venezuela’s budget depends on oil which price is in the lowest in years. Venezuela’s opposition has blamed Maduro for the economic crisis in the country, having gathered enough signatures in favor of a recall referendum.
