Wednesday September 09, 2015
Venezuelan president closes more of border with Colombia
Nicolas Maduro Caracas (AFP) Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro has ordered more of his country’s vast border with Colombia closed amid a diplomatic crisis over deportations and smuggling. “I have decided to close the border crossing at Paraguachon, Zulia state,” Maduro said in a televised address. He said he would send an additional 3,000 troops to the area. In addition, Maduro said he would accept mediation by Brazil and Argentina, with Colombian President Juan
Manuel Santos. Paraguachon is one of the region’s largest trade hubs. The Venezuelan president said the closure would affect the Zulia towns of Mara and Almirante Padilla. The countries have been locked in a row since Maduro on August 19 closed part of the border after unidentified assailants attacked a Venezuelan anti-smuggling patrol, wounding three soldiers and a civilian. Maduro blamed the attack on right-wing paramilitaries from Colombia. He has accused the neighboring country of waging an attack on Venezuela’s economy — a reference to the rampant smuggling of heavily subsidized food and other goods out of Venezuela, where more than five million Colombians live. Maduro had already dispatched 5,000 troops to the area since mid-August. The bilateral diplomatic row grew angrier and both countries recalled their ambassadors, swapping charges that the human rights of deportees had not been respected.
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Latin American nations offer to take in Syria refugees Brasília (AFP) - Brazil will welcome Syrian refugees with “open arms,” President Dilma Rousseff said, as various Latin American nations sought to help with the human tidal wave fleeing the war-torn country. In a video message marking Brazil’s Independence Day, Rousseff said she wanted to “reiterate the government’s willingness to welcome those who, driven from their homeland, want to come live, work and contribute to the prosperity and peace of Brazil.” “Especially in these difficult times, these times of
crisis, we have to welcome refugees with open arms,” she added. Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro ordered his foreign ministry to take steps to receive 20,000 Syrians in the country. Chile’s President Michelle Bachelet, meanwhile, said her country also would be willing to accept refugees, without specifying a number or nationality. “Throughout our history, we have always had our doors open to those, sometimes coming from far away places, bringing their history and cultural to the
construction of our nation,” Bachelet said. Leaders of Chile’s Arab community, which numbers around 300,000 people, approached the government recently with a plan to offer shelter and support to about 100 refugee families from Syria. Brazil has taken in more than 2,000 Syrian refugees since the start of the Syrian conflict in 2011, more than any other country in Latin America. Currently, Syrians are the largest refugee group in Brazil. In 2014 alone, 1,405 were given refuge.
Dilma Rousseff