The Venezuelan Civil Guard is not allowing Colombians to cross the border at Cucutá. The Guard is only people allowing people with Venezuelan identification to cross between the two countries.
As the situation stands at the moment, Colombians wanting to cross the border must do so via unoffical crossings, according to Vanguarida.com.
Venezuelan authorities closed the border Monday evening following the murder of two Venezuelan officials, allegedly commited by a Venezuelan ally of Colombian paramilitaries. The border was opened temporarily Tuesday afternoon to allow stuck travelers to cross the borders. Trucks were not allowed to pass.
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez threatened to close the border permanently Wednesday morning.
Relations between the two countries have been strained recently with the death of eight Colombians in Venezuela, accusations of colombian espionage on in Venezuela and Chavez threatening to block trade because of his disagreement with a U.S.-Colombian military pact.
Colombian Foreign Minister Jaime Bermudez Wednesday warned Venezuela not to play down the deaths of the eight Colombians who were kidnapped in Venezuelan territory on October 11 whilst playing an amateur football game.
Venezuela claimed that those murdered were paramilitaries.
"Any hypothesis about the deaths of the Colombians in Venezuela is very serious," Bermudez stated in a press release. "Some in that country are trying to suggest that if these men were members of so-called paramilitaries, then there is some sort of justification for what happened."
