HomeNewsBriefColombia-Venezuela Border Reopens, But Hidden Trails Still Hotspots
BRIEF

Colombia-Venezuela Border Reopens, But Hidden Trails Still Hotspots

COLOMBIA / 26 JUN 2019 BY VENEZUELA INVESTIGATIVE UNIT EN

The reopening of a major Colombia-Venezuela border crossing is an important step to stop Venezuelans from trekking across remote trails where they are easily extorted by armed groups. But it's unlikely to stem conflict or the flow of contraband in the region.

President Nicolás Maduro announced the reopening of bridges linking Venezuela’s Táchira state to Colombia’s Norte de Santander on June 8. The border had been closed since February 23, after violent clashes broke out as Venezuelan military forces blocked the arrival of humanitarian aid from Colombia.

SEE ALSO: Trails Along Colombia-Venezuela Border are Criminal Enclaves

Christian Kruger Sarmiento, director of the Colombia Migration agency, said that 37,000 Venezuelans had made the legal crossing in the first 24 hours and that use of the clandestine trails known as "trochas" had been significantly reduced. Sources told InSight Crime that Colombian police had started to destroy these trails with spades and cover them with stones.

Amid the closure of the border, the trails became hotspots for conflict as armed groups fought for the profits from illegal migration and contraband movements. Data released by the Venezuelan Observatory of Citizen Security shows that the Venezuelan border city Ureña saw its homicide rate more than double during the first half of this year when compared to the same time in 2018. The increase in killings was partly due to gang shoot-outs in the vicinity of the Simón Bolívar and Francisco de Paula Santander international bridges.

Such clashes, however, are merely an intensification of the violence that has claimed an estimated 10,000 lives in the region since 2012.

InSight Crime Analysis

The reopening of the international bridge brings relief to many Venezuelans who make regular trips to buy basic necessities in Colombia, as well as thousands more wishing to flee the country. Availability of legal border crossings spares them the perilous journey through the ‘trochas’ where they are easy prey for criminals.

The “war for the trochas," however, predates the latest border closure, and conflict is likely to continue as long as the contraband flows remain up for grabs.

Armed groups vying for control include National Liberation Army (Ejército de Liberación Nacional – ELN) guerrillas and dissidents from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia – FARC). The ELN and the ex-FARC mafia both have expanded in the region amid the unfolding violent political crisis in Venezuela.

Venezuela paramilitaries known as "colectivos," emerging gangs such as "La Linea," and Colombian drug trafficking groups such as the Rastrojos have also moved in to contest smuggling routes and associated extortion rackets.

SEE ALSO: Shifting Criminal Dynamics Signal Violent Future for Colombia-Venezuela Border

Without effective policing on both sides of the border, conflict over contraband flows may intensify between these armed groups, which can no longer readily extort migrants moving along the pathways.

Implementation of such policing is a particular challenge on the Venezuelan side, where  border officials have long profited from the movement of contraband and other illicit border economies.

share icon icon icon

Was this content helpful?

We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

DONATE

What are your thoughts? Click here to send InSight Crime your comments.

We encourage readers to copy and distribute our work for non-commercial purposes, with attribution to InSight Crime in the byline and links to the original at both the top and bottom of the article. Check the Creative Commons website for more details of how to share our work, and please send us an email if you use an article.

Was this content helpful?

We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

DONATE

Related Content

EXTORTION / 27 JAN 2023

The Carlos Capa gang is one of the oldest surviving criminal gangs in Valles del Tuy, south of Caracas in…

GUYANA / 13 JUL 2021

Migrants from Venezuela's Warao Indigenous community who have been forced to flee to Guyana find themselves forcibly recruited to work…

ELITES AND CRIME / 17 NOV 2021

On November 5, 2019, threatening pamphlets appeared on the streets of El Callao, a mining town in Venezuela's eastern state…

About InSight Crime

THE ORGANIZATION

All Eyes on Ecuador

2 JUN 2023

Our coverage of organized crime in Ecuador continues to be a valuable resource for international and local news outlets. Internationally, Reuters cited our 2022 Homicide Round-Up,…

WORK WITH US

Open Position: Social Media and Engagement Strategist

27 MAY 2023

InSight Crime is looking for a Social Media and Engagement Strategist who will be focused on maintaining and improving InSight Crime’s reputation and interaction with its audiences through publishing activities…

THE ORGANIZATION

Venezuela Coverage Receives Great Reception

27 MAY 2023

Several of InSight Crime’s most recent articles about Venezuela have been well received by regional media. Our article on Venezuela’s colectivos expanding beyond their political role to control access to…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime's Chemical Precursor Report Continues

19 MAY 2023

For the second week in a row, our investigation into the flow of precursor chemicals for the manufacture of synthetic drugs in Mexico has been cited by multiple regional media…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime’s Chemical Precursor Report Widely Cited

THE ORGANIZATION / 12 MAY 2023

We are proud to see that our recently published investigation into the supply chain of chemical precursors feeding Mexico’s synthetic drug production has been warmly received.