HomeNewsBriefColombia-Venezuela Crisis Shows Human Cost of Illegal Economy Crackdown
BRIEF

Colombia-Venezuela Crisis Shows Human Cost of Illegal Economy Crackdown

COLOMBIA / 11 SEP 2015 BY VENEZUELA INVESTIGATIVE UNIT EN

The near complete closure of the Colombia-Venezuela border could spell disaster for communities reliant on the black market economy of smuggling, despite the efforts of the Colombian government to launch alternative employment programs.

Weeks after closing border crossings in Tachira state, Venezuela President Nicolas Maduro has extended the closure north to the nation's most populous state, Zulia. 

The declared aim is to choke off the smuggling of subsidized fuel and other goods from Venezuela into Colombia, which will likely impact Colombians who live off contraband fuel sales, known as pimpineros, as well as a cross-border indigenous community, the Wayuu. 

Colombia is preparing to carry out a census to identify affected pimpinero families and offer them financing to set up alternative legal businesses, reported El Espectador.

"There's between 4,000 and 6,000 families that live off this business, which means it's important to offer them alternatives to this activity, which they've been pursuing for years," Colombia's Commerce, Industry and Tourism Minister Cecilia Alvarez-Correa told media. 

Meanwhile Wayuu indigenous leaders quickly denounced the recent closure. Hundreds of thousand of Wayuu live on both sides of the border, which they don't recognize, and are involved in smuggling, which they don't consider illegal.  

Venezuela's government reportedly said it would respect the Wayuu's nomadic ways, while simultaneously deploying an additional 3,000 troops in Zulia. 

InSight Crime Analysis

Although Colombia and Venezuela's latest border crisis may have more to do with politics than tackling smuggling, cutting off the trade so abruptly could have unintended consequences. While there are powerful mafias and armed groups that run, regulate and profit from much of the smuggling trade, especially of contraband fuel, there are also thousands of ordinary people who view it as little more than the only work going. 

"People don't see contraband as a crime, they see it as a way of life, a way of getting by," a customs police (POLFA) chief in the border region told InSight Crime before the crisis began. 

SEE ALSO: Coverage of Contraband

This dependence on smuggling also means local communities are prepared to fight back against efforts to police them. Past attempts to arrest or curtail pimpineros in Colombia have often been met with protests and riots. Meanwhile shootouts have occurred when Venezuelan authorities have attempted to police Wayuu smuggling operations. 

Aside from adding more potential violence to an already tense situation, immediately cutting off smuggling will create tens of thousands of unemployed people at a time when shelters and relief organizations are already struggling to deal with the nearly 15,000 people affected by the border closure and subsequent expulsion of many Colombians from Venezuela.

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

ELN / 6 APR 2022

It was 2019 when the Colombian guerrillas first arrived to the Cataniapo river basin, known as Ähuiyäru De’iyu Ręję to…

PERU / 6 DEC 2022

Peru is taking steps to tackle the threat of Venezuelan mega-gang Tren de Aragua, and have recently captured 30 members…

COCAINE / 26 MAR 2021

Authorities in Europe -- already overwhelmed by a flood of cocaine arriving in cargo ships -- now must face another…

About InSight Crime

THE ORGANIZATION

Venezuela Coverage Continues to be Highlighted

3 MAR 2023

This week, InSight Crime co-director Jeremy McDermott was the featured guest on the Americas Quarterly podcast, where he provided an expert overview of the changing dynamics…

THE ORGANIZATION

Venezuela's Organized Crime Top 10 Attracts Attention

24 FEB 2023

Last week, InSight Crime published its ranking of Venezuela’s ten organized crime groups to accompany the launch of the Venezuela Organized Crime Observatory. Read…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime on El País Podcast

10 FEB 2023

This week, InSight Crime co-founder, Jeremy McDermott, was among experts featured in an El País podcast on the progress of Colombia’s nascent peace process.

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Interviewed by Associated Press

3 FEB 2023

This week, InSight Crime’s Co-director Jeremy McDermott was interviewed by the Associated Press on developments in Haiti as the country continues its prolonged collapse. McDermott’s words were republished around the world,…

THE ORGANIZATION

Escaping Barrio 18

27 JAN 2023

Last week, InSight Crime published an investigation charting the story of Desafío, a 28-year-old Barrio 18 gang member who is desperate to escape gang life. But there’s one problem: he’s…