On July 5, Venezuela's independence day, a group of 500 women dressed in white from all over the country decided to come to Táchira on the border with Colombia to buy food in Colombian supermarkets.
Many spent the night on the sidewalk waiting for dawn, before crossing the border.
180.000 Venezuelan citizens have crossed the border with Colombia in the last two weekends to buy food and hygiene products, now unavailable in Venezuela. Hotels, inns and hostels, in the border areas taken by storm, are collapsing. Those who did not find a place had to make do and sleep in tents.
The growing flow is attracted by affordable prices, the abundance of products and the absence of kilometric queues. Suffice it to say that a liter of oil costs about 1.300 bolivar in Colombia against the approximately 2.000 in Venezuela.
Colombia is not the only destination chosen. From the south of Venezuela, thousands of citizens go to the border with Brazil every day. The Brazilian city of Pacaraima, at 15 kilometers from Santa Elena de Uairén, is literally under siege.
While on the one hand there has been a dramatic increase in thefts (tripled in a few months), at the same time the shops that have been closed for years have reopened in response to the new strong demand. Sales would double, pushing local entrepreneurs to new hires. To meet the demands in Pacaraima, markets are even improvised on the sidewalks.
Once the area was mainly a supplier of tires, a product purchased by the Brazilians in Santa Elena. Today rice, wheat flour, toothpaste and soap are the most sought after commodities.
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has already announced that he will close both borders as soon as possible. (photo: The National)
