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A12 WORLD NEWS
Friday 8 March 2019

Border closure forces Venezuelan kids to make perilous treks

By MARKO ALVAREZ nizations like the Red Cross
CHRISTINE ARMARIO in appealing for their assis-
Associated Press tance in securing the safe
CUCUTA, Colombia (AP) passage of children and
— The sun had just begun vulnerable adults and re-
to rise when Yurladis Rojas opening the border.
and her young daughter “Lives are being put at risk,”
began trekking along one exiled lawmaker Gaby
of the illegal dirt pathways Arellano said.
that have become a peril- Colombia and Venezuela
ous lifeline for Venezuelans have a porous 1,370-mile
no longer able to cross (2,200-kilometer) border
blocked border bridges. where illegal armed groups
As they reached the charge for passage. Nu-
muddy Tachira River, they merous rights groups have
joined dozens of other Ven- documented cases in
ezuelan students boarding which Venezuelans have
makeshift wooden rafts in- been robbed or assaulted
tent on getting into Colom- while trying to pass. Occa-
bia to accomplish a simple sionally, the Tachira River
childhood goal — going to swells to the point where
school. those carrying heavy loads
“We don’t deserve this and of contraband goods like
the children don’t either,” raw meat are pushed un-
Rojas, a housewife, said af- A Venezuelan student rides on a wooden raft to cross the Tachira River into Colombia from der by the current.
ter men pushed her daugh- Venezuela, near the Francisco de Paula Santander International Bridge, Wednesday, March 6, An estimated 3,200 Ven-
ter in a gray school uniform 2019. ezuelan schoolchildren
across the knee-deep river. Associated Press cross the border to attend
“They shouldn’t be paying into the bustling Colombi- What has followed is a nations in recognizing op- school in Colombia, where
the consequences for what an border city of Cucuta, tense extension of Venezu- position leader Juan Guai- many parents believe they
is happening.” but both have been closed ela’s political standoff, with do as Venezuela’s rightful will get a better quality ed-
The closure of Venezuela’s since the opposition’s failed thousands of Venezuelans president, but the military is ucation, not to mention at
border with Colombia is ex- bid to drive through trucks ranging from patients to standing with Maduro and least one meal, sometimes
acting a heavy toll on the filled with U.S.-donated aid schoolchildren seeking risky the bridges remain closed. the only one they’ll get in a
thousands who have grown over a week ago. alternative routes to Co- Felipe Munoz, Colombia’s day.
to rely on the neighboring Venezuelan leader Nicolas lombia. director for Venezuela Crossing hand-in-hand, the
Andean nation for every- Maduro dismissed the aid Complicating the ordeal border issues, said officials students stand out in their
thing from chemotherapy push as a U.S.-backed at- is the lack of communica- have had no contact with plaid uniforms and knee-
to food as their homeland’s tempt to remove him from tion between Venezuelan Maduro’s administration high socks amid the swell
humanitarian crisis worsens. power and responded by and Colombian authorities over the closure. of people carrying bundles
On a typical day, over severing ties with Colom- amid the diplomatic strife. Venezuela opposition lead- of goods like rice and toilet
30,000 Venezuelans used bia, where tons of unde- Colombian President Ivan ers, meanwhile, are looking paper and suitcases with
to cross the two bridges livered aid is being stored. Duque has joined 50 other to go through outside orga- their life’s belongings.q

Mexico acknowledges failure on gender violence, unveils plan

By MARIA VERZA that to be remedied. ganized crime.
Associated Press Nadine Gasman, president According to the National
MEXICO CITY (AP) — Au- of the National Women’s Citizens’ Observatory on
thorities acknowledged Institute, said during a news Femicide, less than a third
Wednesday that Mexico conference with Lopez of killings of women were
has failed to do enough Obrador that the goal is investigated as femicides.
to protect women and to attend to women “with The government has not
girls, and President Andres sensitivity and quality.” She said how many of the 3,580
Manuel Lopez Obrador’s called violence against killed last year were consid-
government presented a women “a government ered to be femicides.
plan to combat gender problem.” She said 17 of Mexico’s 31
violence. Last year 3,580 women and states plus the capital dis-
It includes efforts to iden- girls were killed in Mexico. trict in Mexico City already
tify and fix holes in active “All of them have a com- have a gender alert sys-
murder investigations; to mon factor: the lack of tem, but acknowledged
strengthen cooperation In this Jan. 9, 2019 file photo, Mexican President Andres Manuel timely and diligent inter- that it needs improvement.
between prosecutors, Lopez Obrador gives a press conference in Mexico City. vention by the Mexican That point is considered
health services and other Associated Press state to preserve their in- key by advocates. Maria
authorities; to standard- are reported missing. hours or days are wasted. tegrity and to ensure their de la Luz Estrada, president
ize femicide, or killings of Currently disappearances Femicide is not typified as lives,” Interior Secretary of the Observatory, said
women that are directly are often not investigated a crime in 13 states, and Olga Sanchez Cordero that in none of those states
gender-related, as a crime immediately, and experts women’s advocacy groups said, adding that women have authorities evaluated
nationwide; and to search say that means critical have regularly called for are under threat from both whether recommendations
for women as soon as they domestic violence and or- are being followed.q