Maduro Shuts Venezuela-Brazil Border «Until Further Notice»

By Staff, Agencies

President Nicolas Maduro said Venezuela would shut its border with Brazil Thursday “until further notice”.

Maduro said the land border with Brazil would be “completely and absolutely” closed from 8 p.m. local time “until further notice,” following a meeting with the military high command.

The embattled socialist leader also said he was considering “a total closure of the border with Colombia” to Venezuela’s west.

He has already ordered the military to barricade a major border bridge to prevent supplies from entering the country from Cucuta, Colombia, where tons of humanitarian aid are being stockpiled, most of it from the US.

He said he was mulling the Colombia border closure following provocations from Colombian President Ivan Duque and US President Donald Trump.

“I hold Mr. Ivan Duque personally responsible for any violence on the border,” Maduro said after meeting his generals at their Fort Tiuna military headquarters in Caracas.

The government has said soldiers will be stationed at crossing points to repel any “territorial violations.”

In Moscow, meanwhile, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov met with his Venezuelan counterpart Ivan Gil in a session that the Russian Foreign Ministry said was held in a constructive atmosphere.

“The Russian side expressed ... firm support for the policy of its government aimed at preventing destabilization in the country and supported the idea of holding a national dialogue,” the ministry said.