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In Venezuela, the authorities have announced the creation of a "Border Migration Checkbook" which will be mandatory for any Colombian citizen who wishes to return to the country. The goal: to control Colombians crossing the border with Venezuela, which has just reopened this weekend after three months of closure. A measure that worries Venezuelan opposition.
With our correspondent in Caracas , Benjamin Delille
According to Freddy Bernal, protector of the border state of Tachira, this new notebook " is only a safety measure to improve transit between Colombia and Venezuela ." As of June 17, the free migration control log will have to be downloaded from the internet by Colombians who wish to use it and then stamped in an office in the Venezuelan civil registry.
According to the opponent Juan Guaido this measure will only serve to prevent the Colombians from returning and thus worsen the economic situation of the border totally dependent on Colombia. He assures that the government of Nicolas Maduro will not manage to issue these notebooks knowing that he can not even distribute passports to its citizens.
For several months, the Venezuelan civil registry is in fact idling, affected by dysfunctions of all kinds. Many Venezuelans therefore prefer to leave the country illegally rather than waiting for their passports for years.
This is what prompted Juan Guaido to decree last Friday that all Venezuelan passports would now be considered valid five years after their expiry date. But for the moment, only the United States and Spain have recognized this decree.
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees estimates that at least 3.3 million Venezuelans have left their country since 2015.