By Jaime Ortega.
Tachira state bordering Colombia , located on ” arrechera ” , woke up with enraged Venezuelans . The decree issued by the governor, the military José Vielma Mora , to stop the leak and smuggling from neighboring products did not receive positive approval among the residents of the area.
“The decrees hit more than just people smuggling ,” complained Rep. Miguel Angel Rodriguez . This was perceived by the people, who in the early hours of the morning began to show identification ( passport , residence card , tax registration and utility bills) required by governor to purchase foods .
A few miles away, in Cucuta , Colombia ‘s most important city on the border , “Made in Venezuela ‘ , was out of stock for smuggling. The weakness of the native currency makes them subject for preferential consumption among Colombia’s neighboring market.
A portion of the Mercal , the state subsidized market , “allegedly controlled the government has ” still many products , says WO The young man who prefers to hide his name for obvious reasons since he is a border expert and part of the contraband underground. From words to action goes a long border between living smuggling and corruption .
Among the Venezuelan boxes are two very hard to find products in Táchira. The famous ‘ bread flour ‘ , starring many of the lines that are repeated during 2013 throughout Venezuela , located in Cucuta to 500% of its original price.
“In the Tachira border with Colombia it has been institutionalized violence and corruption : people worth what you have ,” said Abelardo Díaz , oppositing the MP . ” Smuggling is our daily bread , where civilian and military government and even agencies end up being the beneficiary of big business that it generates.”
Corruption has form a bond in recent months with the famous ‘ black dollar ‘, that border is achieved at 60 bolivars per greenback when the official exchange rate is 6.30 . Dirty Business ” are increasingly attractive because of the huge profits generated by the exchange rate differential ,” confirms Diaz.
Food and commodities now compete with gasoline smuggling on the border , which also yields huge profits . The regional government has tried to stop it by installing a chip that limits the sale of subsidized fuel and raises its price . But pimpineros and bachaqueros , as the smugglers are known, are moving to the bridge of Cúcuta, where is acquired without much problem . If Venezuela 20 liters cost two bolivars in Colombia it cost 400.
With a mixed population , it’s not hard to get Venezuelan bonds or letters of residence in order to handle the chips for gasoline. Both locals and opposition politicians said the National Guard is allowing traditional smuggling accomplices in exchange for commissions , otherwise known as the famous ‘ rattles ‘ .
The sophistication of the local mafia has led to Cucuta to ‘ raspatarjetas ‘ or ‘ exchange tourists ‘ , although Colombia is one of the countries that receives less allocation . No matter : there are places where Venezuelans can activate their preferential dollars through fake companies domiciled in Panama or Spain , passing credit card information as if they were in those countries. The percentage charged to deliver the $ ranges between 14% and 24%.
