By Geraldine Garcia |
Cúcuta (Colombia) (EFE)
These paths cut into the brush, which cross the Táchira river between the Venezuelan state of the same name and the Colombian department of Norte de Santander, have always existed, but their use has spread since 2015 with the closure of the border by order of the Venezuelan president, Nicolás Maduro, and they reached hundreds in the following years.
Tens of thousands of Venezuelans fleeing the crisis in their country have passed through the trails in recent years, but the arrival of Gustavo Petro to the Colombian Presidency, which led to a rapprochement with Maduro and the resumption of diplomatic relations broken four years ago years, on February 23, 2019, marked a resounding change in the border movement.
In the area comprised by Cúcuta and Villa del Rosario (Colombia) and San Antonio and Ureña (Venezuela), the bulk of the movement of people and merchandise is now done over the Simón Bolívar and Francisco de Paula Santander international bridges, through which for some months the transport of cargo and passengers returned to circulation with all the customs controls.
Trails, dangerous routes
However, there are those who continue to use the trails, mostly controlled by illegal armed groups that charge for their use and have been the scene in the past of murders, robberies, kidnappings and rapes, among other crimes.
The reasons for continuing to use them are diverse: from the loss of the identity documents required by the border authorities, the speed to cross by not having to wait in lines at immigration controls, or even some legal record to hide from the police and soldiers.
This is the case of John Quintero, who travels the arid and sunny paths of the “Los Mangos” trail, between Ureña and Villa del Rosario, and told EFE that he chooses that path because he has pending accounts with the courts.
“I must use the trails because in Colombia I have a lawsuit for lack of food assistance for my son. I don’t give him, not because he doesn’t want to, but because I don’t have. I work as a shoe shiner and earn between 10,000 and 20,000 Colombian pesos (between two and four dollars) a day and I have another family in Ureña that depends on it, ”he says with shame.
Quintero, who spoke on the condition that no photos be taken so as not to hurt his children, travels every day that irregular path of 1,500 meters in length through bad odors, garbage and undergrowth.
“Sometimes I want to go over the bridge, but I don’t want to risk being put in jail. I prefer to get up early and go through the trail, which for me is no longer dangerous, ”she adds.
move down
A woman who was traveling on the same trail shouts, without giving her name, that she is doing it because she lost her Venezuelan identity card and if she goes over the bridges they will return her to her country.
The “Los Mangos” trail, which allows you to walk from one country to another in less than half an hour, is almost empty and the movement of merchandise is almost non-existent during the day. Cargo carts that used to go by full of food bought in Colombia to resell in Venezuela now carry a few bottles of water, eggs and other basic products.
“The work here is practically over. People now want and can cross the border in cars because the bridges have already been opened”, laments a young Venezuelan who, accompanied by a friend, drives a “carrucha” (cart) offering his services to passers-by.
The commander in charge of the Cúcuta Metropolitan Police, Colonel Carlos Andrés García, assures EFE that the opening of the international bridges to the passage of vehicles makes life easier for people but, “for a cultural issue”, there are those who continue to use the steps illegal to smuggle products.
restricted paths
Near the Simón Bolívar bridge is the “La Platanera” trail, which runs along the sand of the river and high reed beds and through which only “authorized” people can circulate because they live in an invasion neighborhood founded by Venezuelans on the Colombian side and where even the Police have restricted access.
Further on there is another called “La Marranera”, with the bad reputation of being the most dangerous in the area and which, like “La Platanera”, comes to life at night when it is used by smugglers sheltered in darkness and silence.
On the trails nobody sees anything, nobody hears anything, but everyone knows that day or night, there is someone who is listening or watching them.
