Colombian president visits troubled border with Venezuela

Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos Tuesday visited a town along the border with Venezuela, as a mass deportation of Colombians ordered by Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro provoked a diplomatic crisis between the two countries.

During his visit to Paraguachon, located in northern La Guajira department, right on the border with Venezuela, Santos approached Venezuelan soldiers guarding the border and greeted them, before listening to some of the deported Colombians seeking relief measures.

Santos assured the refugees that the government would protect them, that 1,000 jobs would immediately be created in the region, and that a food distribution center and a health clinic would be opened to guarantee the well-being of the deportees.

"The town of Puerto Estrella will build a food distribution center that will be permanently stocked by our armed forces and will see to all nutritional needs," he said.

Furthermore, the government will build 100 houses, a sports complex and a recreation center for the deported Colombians. A bus will also be provided to take their children to school.

The president was accompanied by Minister of Defense Luis Carlos Villegas, Minister of Foreign Affairs Maria Angela Holguin, Minister of Transport Natalia Abello and Minister of Housing Luis Felipe Henao.

Paraguachon has received 1,538 refugees since Maduro closed the border, according to official statistics.

The presidents of Venezuela and Colombia have agreed to meet to discuss the problems along their shared border, Venezuela's Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced Sunday.

"Presidents Nicolas Maduro and Juan Manuel Santos will decide on a date for the meeting," the ministry said via Twitter.

The crisis erupted on Aug. 19 when three Venezuelan army officers were wounded by suspected paramilitary gunmen operating in Colombia.

After the border incident, Venezuela closed major border crossing points and deported over 1,000 Colombians, with another 5,000 leaving voluntarily, in a bid to fight crime and a thriving cross-border smuggling trade, according to the Venezuelan government.

However, many of those Colombians are refugees fleeing decades of violence from Latin America's longest-running civil war, leading the United Nations in Colombia to urge a dialogue to avoid aggravating the humanitarian crisis on the border shared by Colombia and Venezuela.

The tension increased after two Venezuelan military airplanes entered the Colombian airspace of La Guajira department for 3 km and flew over a Colombian army unit. Colombia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs sent a complaint note to Caracas Sunday about the alleged violation of its airspace.

The Venezuelan government responded that those airplanes were only doing a reconnaissance flight over the border and did not violate Colombia's sovereign airspace, according to a statement made by its minister of foreign affairs. Endi