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NEWS
SOUTH AMERICAN CRISIS
Venezuelan troops
disrupt border town
VENEZUELAN TROOPS APPROACHED
COLOMBIA, IMPOSING FUEL RESTRICTIONS ON A SMALL BORDER TOWN AND
POTENTIALLY ESCALATING A WAR OF WORDS
Posted on Thu, Mar. 06, 2008
BY JACK CHANG
McClatchy News Service
SAN ANTONIO, Venezuela -- The conflict between Venezuela and neighboring
Colombia is a war of words so far, but its effects already are being
felt in this border town, where newly arrived troops and frustrated
motorists filled the streets Thursday.
Beefed-up border enforcement has targeted the town's main source of
income, illegal fuel smuggling from Venezuela, where a gallon of
gasoline costs about 12 cents, to Colombia, where it costs more than 20
times that.
That has sparked massive gridlock near the border and street protests by
those hurt by the new restrictions.
''We're the people most affected by this conflict,'' said Jose Carriedo,
a bus driver who has been unable to work this week because of gasoline
shortages. ``We've always lived perfectly well with our Colombian
neighbors, and we see this as a fight between the leaders, not the
people.''
Town residents also have witnessed an influx of troops, ordered by
Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez to beef up the country's 1,370-mile
border with Colombia. About 300 Venezuelan national guard troops arrived
in San Antonio on Tuesday from the coastal state of Sucre, according to
two members of the unit.
Chávez has ordered 10 combat battalions, made up of more than 9,000
troops, as well as tanks, ships and aircraft to the border.
''We don't know how long we'll stay,'' guardsman Carlos Rodríguez said
as he made his way down San Antonio's main street in fatigues and black
combat boots. ``We're here to help secure the border.''
The border restrictions went into effect Monday after Chávez threatened
to go to war with Colombia in retaliation for that country's military
incursion into Ecuador on Saturday. The raid killed 17 members of the
guerrilla group the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, including a
top leader, Raúl Reyes.
CHAVEZ AND FARC
Chávez has defended the guerrillas, known by their Spanish acronym FARC,
and has negotiated the release of six of the more than 700 hostages in
the group's hands. Colombian officials charge that they found computer
documents during Saturday's raid showing that Chávez gave the FARC $300
million last year, an accusation Chávez has denied. The group, which the
United States labels terrorists, has fought Colombia's government since
the 1960s.
After cutting diplomatic ties with Colombia this week, Chávez pledged to
obstruct cross-border trade, which amounted to $6.5 billion last year.
More than $5 billion came from Colombian exports of sugar, eggs and
other products to Venezuela.
In San Antonio, the Venezuelan national guard began checking the gas
tanks of every car crossing into Colombia and siphoning out fuel that
was over the amount allowed into that country. With the world's
seventh-biggest oil reserves, Venezuelans pay among the lowest gas
prices in the world.
Before the restrictions, about 30,000 Colombians crossed the border in
San Antonio every day to work in Venezuela, and Venezuelans went the
other direction to shop.
''The situation is very grave on the border,'' City Councilman Alejandro
García said. ``For a problem that's between Ecuador and Colombia, we
Venezuelans are paying the price.''
He added that the fuel restrictions had forced a local jeans factory to
close after it didn't receive enough diesel oil to keep production
going.
At a news conference with Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa, Chávez
said Wednesday night that the border measures were designed to defend
Venezuela from a possible Colombian attack. He has labeled Colombian
President Alvaro Uribe a criminal and accused him of committing genocide
against his own people.
''This movement is merely defensive,'' Chávez said. ``Our path is that
of peace.''
GUERRILLAS ARE HERE
Many in San Antonio speculated that Chávez had sent troops to the region
to protect guerrillas taking shelter there from Colombian attack. Many
in the region said that extortion, kidnappings and executions at the
hands of Colombian as well as Venezuelan guerrillas were regular
occurrences.
''Of course there are Colombian guerrillas here, and the government
knows where they are,'' García said.
More than anything, the new measures have divided a close-knit community
that has socialized and worked on both sides of the border. As many as
five million Colombians live in Venezuela, many of them having fled
decades of war in their own country.
''None of us wants any fighting to happen,'' said Yolanda Uribe, a
Colombian who has long worked and lived in San Antonio. ``We don't need
it here or there.''
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