{"id":3426,"date":"2019-03-12T01:27:23","date_gmt":"2019-03-12T01:27:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/theamericasblog\/?p=3426"},"modified":"2019-03-12T01:27:23","modified_gmt":"2019-03-12T01:27:23","slug":"venezuela-blocks-off-second-bridge-to-colombia-as-guaido-flies-to-brazil","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/theamericasblog\/2019\/03\/12\/venezuela-blocks-off-second-bridge-to-colombia-as-guaido-flies-to-brazil\/","title":{"rendered":"Venezuela blocks off second bridge to Colombia as Guaid\u00f3 flies to Brazil"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Venezuelan authorities have blockaded a second bridge to Colombia amid fresh skirmishes between protesters and security forces loyal to the embattled leader Nicol\u00e1s Maduro<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Venezuela: US increasingly isolated as allies warn against use of military force<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

 Read more<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The move came as opposition leader Juan Guaid\u00f3 travelled to Brazil to shore up international pressure on Maduro following an inconclusive meeting of regional leaders in Colombia<\/a> earlier this week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Early on Wednesday, two shipping containers were positioned across the Sim\u00f3n Bol\u00edvar bridge, a major pedestrian crossing between the two countries, following days of sporadic violence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The bridge was the focus of a failed weekend attempt to bring US food aid into the country as part of Guaid\u00f3\u2019s campaign campaign to force Maduro from power.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dozens were injured on Saturday as anti-government protesters clashed with Venezuela\u2019s national guard and pro-Maduro gangs at the bridge and another crossing near near the Colombian city of C\u00facuta. In circumstances that remain unclear, at least two trucks carrying the aid caught fire during the violence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Footage broadcast<\/a> on Colombian television on Wednesday showed a burned-out truck bed in front of the shipping containers, which had been positioned overnight across the Sim\u00f3n Bol\u00edvar bridge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last month, Venezuelan authorities barricaded the nearby Tienditas bridge with two containers and an oil truck. That bridge was finished in 2016 but never inaugurated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Colombian border has been closed to most vehicles since 2015 following a string of disputes between the two countries, and on Saturday Maduro closed all Venezuela\u2019s borders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Colombia<\/a> closed four crossings from its side on Saturday evening, reopening them on Monday afternoon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Saturday\u2019s aid effort was intended to weaken Maduro by triggering a flood of military defections. That did not happen, but Colombian migration authorities reported that around 250 military officials have crossed the border, joining a steady stream of Venezuelan refugees leaving the country via unpoliced routes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After Saturday\u2019s violence, Guaid\u00f3 \u2013 who has been recognized as Venezuela\u2019s rightful president by the US and 50 other countries \u2013 travelled to Bogot\u00e1 and met with the US vice-president, Mike Pence, and Latin American leaders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Guaid\u00f3, who was officially barred from travel, was set to arrive in Brazil late on Wednesday for a meeting with the far-right leader Jair Bolsonaro, an outspoken opponent of Maduro.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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‘Venezuelan blood is being spilled’: tension flares near border with Brazil<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

 Read moreAdvertisement<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maduro\u2019s vice-president, Delcy Rodr\u00edguez, will travel to Moscow for talks with the Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, on Friday. Russia has been among Maduro\u2019s staunchest allies during the crisis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, unrest continued near Venezuela\u2019s eastern border with Brazil after violence that left at least three people dead<\/a> and dozens injured over the weekend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Tuesday morning, soldiers took control of an airport in the town of Santa Elena de Uair\u00e9n, which was the focus of clashes between Venezuelan soldiers and indigenous protesters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Witnesses say they were attempting to travel to Maurak, where members of the Pemon indigenous community had captured 30 soldiers on Saturday.
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Venezuelan authorities have blockaded a second bridge to Colombia amid fresh skirmishes between protesters and security forces loyal to the embattled leader Nicol\u00e1s Maduro. Venezuela: US increasingly isolated as allies warn against use of military force  Read more The move came as opposition leader Juan Guaid\u00f3 travelled to Brazil to shore up international pressure on Maduro following an inconclusive meeting of regional… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":125,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3426","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/theamericasblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3426","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/theamericasblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/theamericasblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/theamericasblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/125"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/theamericasblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3426"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/theamericasblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3426\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3427,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/theamericasblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3426\/revisions\/3427"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/theamericasblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3426"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/theamericasblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3426"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/theamericasblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3426"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}