Mercy Corps - Latin America: Paraguachón, Colombia

Families cross the Venezuela-Colombia border at Paraguachón, Colombia. The border is fluid, with people moving in both directions. Some Venezuelans enter Colombia for as little as a day — long enough to get one meal — up to several weeks or months, to work and stock up on supplies before returning home. Others arrive with suitcases and anything else they can carry, and may stay indefinitely. Colombians also enter Venezuela through this crossing, to purchase items that are still available at significantly cheaper prices there. In the week before this visit between 400 and 800 people crossed into Colombia every day through the crossing at Paraguachón, while around 200 crossed into Venezuela. These numbers don’t account for people crossing at any of the 200 illegal crossing sites in La Guajira. In total, more than 1 million Venezuelans have fled to Colombia, fleeing economic, governmental and social collapse that has plunged the majority of the population into poverty, joblessness and near starvation.
Paraguachón, Colombia, May 2019

Families cross the Venezuela-Colombia border at Paraguachón, Colombia. The border is fluid, with people moving in both directions. Some Venezuelans enter Colombia for as little as a day — long enough to get one meal — up to several weeks or months, to work and stock up on supplies before returning home. Others arrive with suitcases and anything else they can carry, and may stay indefinitely. Colombians also enter Venezuela through this crossing, to purchase items that are still available at significantly cheaper prices there.  

In the week before this visit between 400 and 800 people crossed into Colombia every day through the crossing at Paraguachón, while around 200 crossed into Venezuela. These numbers don’t account for people crossing at any of the 200 illegal crossing sites in La Guajira. In total, more than 1 million Venezuelans have fled to Colombia, fleeing economic, governmental and social collapse that has plunged the majority of the population into poverty, joblessness and near starvation.