Venezuela crisis now threatens Colombia, diplomats warn

[Zorro]

The escalating crisis in Venezuela now threatens to bleed into Colombia, where millions of dollars in U.S. assistance have failed to curb the violence and criminal enterprises undermining internationally supported peace efforts.

Diplomats on Wednesday warned Congress that violence in Venezuela after Sunday’s widely-panned vote to strip elected lawmakers of power, coupled with that country’s severe economic crisis, could destabilize neighbors as Venezuelans either flee or criminal activity crosses the border.

“Venezuela is a disaster for Colombia,” said José Cárdenas, who previously worked in the U.S. Agency for International Development’s Bureau for Latin America and the Caribbean. “It is unmitigated disaster.”

Indeed, while the State Department’s senior Latin American diplomat said Venezuelan instability is a threat to all of its neighbors, the risk is especially grave for Colombia, which is already struggling to achieve peace after 52 years of fighting that have left more than 260,000 dead.

http://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/article165055132.html

[EX500rider]

1. I'll be back in Colombia next month...

...my 3rd time this year....some very desperate Venezuelans there, I met a very pretty Venz women at a bar in Medellin who really wanted to come back to my hotel, she had no ID (u have to have a ID to rent a hotel room in Colombia) and no cel phone, she wanted to borrow my phone to talk to her 15yo daughter, I let her, (I thought her daughter was back in Venz) turns out her daughter was wandering the streets in Medellin and she was trying to get me to let both of them stay in my room, I had to say no, Colombia is rightfully down on underage prostitution, (the age of consent is 14 but it is 18 for prostitution) I had to say no, sorry, no underage girls in my room, I have no desire to see the inside of a Colombian prison if someone mistook what I was doing for any underage hanky-panky, I gave her some pesos and told her I hoped she could find a place that wouldn't want to see ID, I suggested she start at the cheaper hotels and cross her fingers. Don't know how it turned out for her but met her the next day and bought her and her daughter lunch. Very sad state of affairs.

[GatoGordo]

2. This happens a lot.

I was in Panama and Costa Rica last winter. Lots of very pretty Venezuela women who would otherwise have been working as secretaries or in sales in Venezuela, were working as prostitutes to earn hard currency. Very discouraging, since I have nieces who still live in Venezuela who are that age.