Colombia complained Monday that Venezuela's mass deportation of its citizens during a crackdown on smuggling has created a "humanitarian tragedy" on part of their border.
Interior Minister Juan Fernando Cristo and Foreign Minister Maria Angela Holguin were in the northeastern city of Cucuta to address the issues created by the deportations and meet with Colombians in the area.
Most of the deportees were sent home for alleged documentation problems, without families or their belongings.
"There is a social tragedy... there is a humanitarian tragedy that we are here working to solve here in Cucuta," Cristo told a news conference.
President Juan Manuel Santos said a command center has been set up in Cucuta to work on family reunification and keep the deportees informed on their fate.
Santos called for "dialogue and diplomacy" to settle the problem.
Saturday, Santos urged Venezuela to reconsider its decision to close its border in response to an attack by unidentified assailants on a military patrol.
But the border stretch will not reopen, Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro has said, "until the attack on Venezuela's economy from inside Colombia stops."
Maduro had initially closed the border for 72 hours, but on Friday he extended it indefinitely and declared a state of emergency in Tachira, a hotbed of opposition to his leftist government.
Santos said the two countries had the same interest in eliminating gangs of smugglers that operate on the border, and should work more closely together.
Their foreign ministers are scheduled to hold talks on Wednesday.
Smuggling has surged along the border under Maduro and his predecessor, the late Hugo Chavez.
The Venezuelan government has blamed the smuggling of its heavily subsidized food and other goods to Colombia for the widespread shortages throughout Venezuela.
Colombia complained Monday that Venezuela’s mass deportation of its citizens during a crackdown on smuggling has created a “humanitarian tragedy” on part of their border.
Interior Minister Juan Fernando Cristo and Foreign Minister Maria Angela Holguin were in the northeastern city of Cucuta to address the issues created by the deportations and meet with Colombians in the area.
Most of the deportees were sent home for alleged documentation problems, without families or their belongings.
“There is a social tragedy… there is a humanitarian tragedy that we are here working to solve here in Cucuta,” Cristo told a news conference.
President Juan Manuel Santos said a command center has been set up in Cucuta to work on family reunification and keep the deportees informed on their fate.
Santos called for “dialogue and diplomacy” to settle the problem.
Saturday, Santos urged Venezuela to reconsider its decision to close its border in response to an attack by unidentified assailants on a military patrol.
But the border stretch will not reopen, Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro has said, “until the attack on Venezuela’s economy from inside Colombia stops.”
Maduro had initially closed the border for 72 hours, but on Friday he extended it indefinitely and declared a state of emergency in Tachira, a hotbed of opposition to his leftist government.
Santos said the two countries had the same interest in eliminating gangs of smugglers that operate on the border, and should work more closely together.
Their foreign ministers are scheduled to hold talks on Wednesday.
Smuggling has surged along the border under Maduro and his predecessor, the late Hugo Chavez.
The Venezuelan government has blamed the smuggling of its heavily subsidized food and other goods to Colombia for the widespread shortages throughout Venezuela.
