Venezuela seals Colombian border to fight smuggling

Venezuela closed its border with Colombia Monday night to fight the smuggling of cut-rate gasoline and other products that has caused huge losses for the government and exacerbated severe shortages. Oil-rich Venezuela has the world’s cheapest gas, as well as price controls that keep goods like rice and toilet paper up to 10 times cheaper than in Colombia. But Venezuela has also been hit by crippling shortages of basic supplies and rampant inflation, even as the outward flood of local products has become a defining feature of the regional economy. To combat the problem, the Venezuelan government has deployed 17,000 troops to seal the 2,200-kilometer (1,400-mile) border off every night from 10:00 pm to 5:00 am.

http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/Venezuela-seals-Colombian-border-to-fight-smuggling