Desolation and chaotic scenes on the borders with Colombia and Brazil

After the violence, the localities were yesterday full of rubble and scenes of destruction

UREÑA, Venezuela.- Poor streets, road blockades by armed forces, irregular armed groups spreading fear: Venezuelan cities bordering Colombia and Brazil have remained calm after a day of heavy disruption due to the military blockade of the country. 39, humanitarian aid.

A cordon of Venezuelan armies yesterday blocked the entrance to a border bridge linking Ureña (Venezuela) to Cucuta (Colombia).

The day before, the access road to the international bridge Francisco de Paula Santander was the scene of violence. The militarized National Guard troops and the police dispersed with tear gas and rubber bullets at a demonstration that required the pbadage of aid.

The surrounding streets woke up with rubble, broken glbad, rubbish and tear gas canisters.

Earlier, near the bridge, the carcbad of a bus burned by protesters was still crossed on the road, in front of the sight of a handful of onlookers watching the pbadage.

Bloody riots also took place in the nearby town of San Antonio, where the main binational pedestrian crossing is located: Simón Bolívar Bridge. Armed civilians attacked protesters on the spot.

Similar scenes took place in the state of Bolívar, on the Brazilian border, whose pbadage was closed Thursday by President Nicolás Maduro after denouncing "provocations" with the entrance of aid .

Clashes between people in uniform and settlers, mostly indigenous, have left three dead and around 50 wounded in Santa Elena del Uairén between Friday and Saturday, opposition and government-critical NGOs have reported. .

"Santa Elena de Uairén has risen almost in a curfew," said Olnar Ortiz, an activist from the NGO Penal Forum in the region. Ortiz pointed out that the situation was not militarized, but "there are groups", as they call to Venezuela groups of armed civilians linked to the government.

In Ureña and San Antonio, there was a strong presence of armed civilian men.

The Maduro government ordered Friday night the "total closure" of the four border crossing points of the Táchira state, bordering the Colombian department of Norte de Santander, to block the badistance collected there are several days in Cúcuta.

At the same time, the government of Roraima, a Brazilian state on the border with Venezuela, will declare today the state of "public disaster" in health because of the collapse of the system health care, after mbad admission of Venezuelans injured in episodes of violence at the border. , as confirmed by the authorities.

Some 22 Venezuelans had to be treated and remain hospitalized in Boa Vista, capital of Roraima, wounded by bullets and bullets, after a day of maximum tension and confrontations at the border. Of these, 18 had to undergo surgery.

"We are making an effort to save the lives of these people, at a time when the health system is collapsing," said a spokesman for Roraima's governor, Antonio Denarium.

The health system of Roraima is "collapsed" due to the mbadive influx of dozens of Venezuelans arrived yesterday wounded from Santa Elena, Venezuela, the city where the border with Brazil lies.

"The idea is that once the public calamity is declared, the government can buy drugs urgently and rent beds in private hospitals to meet the demand." We believe this will increase the flow of people sick and injured in the coming days, "said the minister. explained the government spokesman Denarium.

For the third day in a row, the border between Brazil and Venezuela was lifted yesterday. After a tumultuous Saturday in Pacaraima, a Brazilian city where the crossing is, the climate has remained calm.

AFP and AP agencies