File talk:Cucuta-blockade.jpg

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/02/06/us-urges-venezuelan-troops-allow-aid-country-exchange-freedom/ This is on the timeline, please decide to remove or mark as stage in infowar. Thanks --Diagonal (talk) 16:16, 8 February 2019 (UTC)

Fake news as part of the propaganda stunt with the convoy. Tensions are there see this footage from the Venezuelan side from Ruptly. Maybe the National Guard did show up on Wednesday, although we know the barricade was in place before. Diagonal (talk) 21:57, 9 February 2019 (UTC)

An image search showed me zero pictures of this bridge ever open, ever allowing deliveries or traffic of any kind. I see it under construction, blocked as seen now, and maybe no views yet of it in between. Would be good to see some images, reliable reports, etc. to show it never was open except, as they say, to smugglers, prior to its blockage. Some factors making it hard to police? That might be just the reason they want it open now - the same reason it was blocked in the first place, and now they want to smuggle the fighters-and-weapons type of "humanitarian aid." --Caustic Logic (talk) 07:14, 11 February 2019 (UTC)

Heavy shooting occurred on the Colombian-Venezuelan border, Jan. 29, 2018 - Shooting is heard near the bridge, seemingly security forces on the Venezuela side, "guards who were in the area, which is not yet active," clashing with smugglers (probably from across the bridge). A video is included, a still image of the bridge, nearly empty of vehicles (a couple app. security trucks, one guy on motorcycle at the toll booths area). No tankers blocking the way here, about a year ago, but still, it was apparently not in legitimate use. --Caustic Logic (talk) 07:34, 11 February 2019 (UTC)

This article from 4/2016 says it is a few months from completion, but there is a 8 month old border closure by Maduro (officially lifted in August 2016, with more crossing from Venezuela at that point; stayed open in February 2018) It also has a photo or photoshop, called an image for reference; it looks more like photoshop than real, while appears to show some vehicle traffic. It may be true that there was none or little commercial traffic; evidence of any traffic (if at all) would be after August 2016 Also: Some fence, apparently on Columbia side (road sign says "to Venezuela" on video), here, 5 Feb. 2019 Some yelling and stuff, here, Feb 7, 2019 --Resup (talk) 07:44, 11 February 2019 (UTC)

The archive at Venezuelanalysis has only two matches for the bridge: The recent article I linked to on the file page and this one which adds the information that the agreement to build the bridge was signed in early November 2010 between Chavez and then-Colombian president Juan Manuel Santos. --CE (talk) 13:52, 11 February 2019 (UTC)

Is humanitarian aid blocked?
I'd say, maybe (but no clue).

Western sources uniformly report that Maduro ordered military to prevent the aid (examples -WaPo, 1, 2).

Hispanic sources are kind of split, there are some who say in effect that the aid is a Trojan horse in the power struggle, aimed to have military disobey orders in particular (Caracas dances with wolves, Rafael Vilasanjuan, El Periodico, February 10, 2019). While Colombian El Tiempo proclaims that Venezuelans return to the streets to ask for humanitarian aid income, February 11, 2019, and feature Guaido claiming that he managed to receive some aid (85 thousand supplements that result in 1,700,000 nutritional rations for children and 4,500 supplements for pregnant women, without specifying the origin of this humanitarian aid) and calling for protest marches for more aid --Resup (talk) 06:07, 12 February 2019 (UTC)


 * Here is a new article summarizing the situation. Apparently Chicago Boy's aid is directly organized by USAID personnel which has been blocked from entering the country (and why shouldn't it). This while Red Cross and UN are successfully running aid programs and both have complained about the politicized US stunt several times. The article also has a list of what is supposed to be in the USAID package - purely symbolic drop on the hot stone (is that a saying in English?). --CE (talk) 10:08, 12 February 2019 (UTC)