Ceramics, cardboard, furs and plastics, industries most affected by Venezuela's crisis

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Not only are the displacements generating great difficulties, but the losses for Colombian exporters are approaching USD 900,000 per day, as reported by Germán Umaña, president of the Colombo-Venezuelan Chamber.

To date, "Colombia has stopped exporting about USD 3,250,000 to Venezuela for items such as ceramics (the most affected), paper, cardboard, plastics, and furs," said José Miguel González, executive director of the Chamber of Commerce of Cúcuta.

According to González, these losses are added to those that have been presented by coal exports. "They are close to 6,000 tons corresponding to more USD 400,000, which have not been able to leave the country due to the border closure. Venezuela is the logistics platform for mineral exports to other destinations," he insisted.

However, the problem not only reaches bilateral trade. Heavy transport and tourism have also been profoundly depressed.

According to the Colombian Federation of road freight transporters (Colfecar), the crisis on the border leaves the sector losses of USD 2 million, as it prevents the movement of more than 500 freight vehicles that transit in commercial operation each month.

Travel agencies in Cúcuta are also feeling the effect of the closure. According to González, "more than 50% of the tour packages that were sold in the city were destined for Isla Margarita in Venezuela, which means that more than 2,500 packages sold until November have been dammed."

Colombia and Venezuela share a border of 2,219 km, in which both denounce the activity of irregular groups that profit from the smuggling of fuel and other products highly subsidized by the Venezuelan government.

To this, Ronal Rodríguez, researcher of the Observatory of Venezuela of the Universidad del Rosario, added that "the illegal traffic of goods is what the Government of the neighboring country is using as an excuse to justify the local shortage." Rodriguez also warned that "while Venezuela continues to subsidize products, contraband will continue to be a real problem in that area."

On the other side of the border, the president of Ecuador, Rafael Correa, called on Ecuadorians not to buy on Colombian soil and prefer national products. The president warned that this does a "serious damage" to the economy.

For now, Rodriguez believes that it would not be unreasonable to think that the closure of the border with Venezuela extends until 2016. This perception is supported after yesterday, in the afternoon, the Venezuelan parliament's delegated committee approved the decree of State of Exception in four municipalities of Tachira state.

All this means an even darker picture for the national economy and concerns to the inhabitants of the area.

Economic emergency

The incident took place after the Minister of Transportation, Natalia Abello, said that it was necessary to take legal measures to remove the coal dammed in Norte de Santander, through the Caribbean ports. The official explained that fuel is needed at the border price and allow the train that would take the coal (part of the way to the Caribbean) to operate at night. Currently, this is not possible due to precautionary measures of the Constitutional Court.

After the comments of Abello, Santos asked the legal secretary of the presidency, Cristina Pardo, to prepare the decree to implement the economic emergency. Pardo replied that there are legal conditions to apply it, so the president ordered him to proceed with the measure.

Although Norte de Santander is still the department most affected by the massive arrival of deportees, in others, the figures continue to rise. In Arauca, to date, there are 247 returnees and 32 deported; in La Guajira, there are 127, and there are more than 2,053 students who are out of school.

Secretary-General of the OAS will visit Cúcuta this Saturday

The Secretary-General of the organization, Luis Almagro, informed yesterday that he had accepted the invitation of the Mayor of Cúcuta to visit the border areas, this September 5. The visit will be made without prejudice to the actions that the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights decides to carry out. For her part, Colombian Foreign Minister María Ángela Holguín announced that she would meet with the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-Moon, on Monday.

The opinions

Germán Umaña

President of the Colombo-Venezuelan Chamber

"Colombia's exports have fallen by about 20%, from January to June 2014. However, those from Venezuela to the country, have done so at around 48%".

José Miguel González

Executive Director Chamber of Commerce of Cúcuta

"Colombia has stopped exporting about USD 3,250,000 to Venezuela for items such as ceramics, paper, cardboard, plastics, and furs, in addition to the USD 400,000 for coal."

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