MADURO ORDERS BORDER CLOSED BETWEEN ABC ISLANDS

WILLEMSTAD – Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro announced a 72-hour closure of the border with the islands of Aruba, Curaçao and Bonaire (ABC islands) through the activation of the “Sentinel Plan for Sovereignty and Contraband.”

The president said on Friday evening that the National Armed Forces had been instructed to take all the ports and airports in the neighboring South American country where commercial routes with three Dutch Caribbean islands takes place and develop, to put an end to the extraction of Venezuelan products and minerals over the border.
He added that his government has tried to hold talks with the governments of these three islands, which have not responded. This is the reason for the measure of closing for 72 hours the trade routes until Tuesday morning.
“I demand that the governments of Aruba, Curaçao and Bonaire take the measures that the Venezuelan government has demanded to stop the smuggling of our products and minerals,” said Maduro.
The Venezuelan president did guarantee tourists and travellers “free” transit to and from Aruba, Curaçao and Bonaire during these 72 hours of the border closure.
Curaçao Prime Minister Eugene Rhugggenaath on Saturday held an urgent meeting with Venezuelan Consul-General in Willemstad Ms Marisol Gutierrez de Almeida. She was notified that unilaterally closing the border is not in keeping with striving for good relations.
The prime minister tried to find out if the move had another indirect reason like the situation surrounding the Isla refinery of which the lease to “Petroleos de Venezuela” PDVSA expires at the end of 2019, but was told there were no indications of such. He said controls on trade between the two nations already have been sharpened and their respective authorities are in fact working together in a constructive manner to combat smuggling.
As government they have never officially been approached by Caracas to take any specific measures, Rhuggenaath said.
Aruban Prime Minister Evelyn Wever-Croes is worried about the temporary border closure. “Our government has sought contact within the Kingdom of the Netherlands context. We recognize Venezuelan concerns over the smuggling problem and want to have consultations.
“I wish to be very clear: all illegal activities must be forcefully dealt with. We aim to fight crime in cooperation with Venezuela,” the prime minister said.
“There are close economic, cultural and family ties with that Country. This one-sided closing of the border has a very negative impact on our island,” Wever-Croes concluded.