Venezuelan security forces fired tear gas and rubber bullets Saturday to disperse a crowd demanding to cross the Venezuela-Colombia border, ordered closed by President Nicolas Maduro as tensions in the Latin American country soared ahead of an opposition deadline to bring in humanitarian aid.
"We want to work!" people chanted as they faced Venezuelan National Guard riot police blocking the crossing at the Urena border brige to Colombia, one of several ordered closed Maduro late Friday. Meanwhile, four National Guard troops deserted their posts near the border, one greeted by a crowd of cheering Venezuelans on the Colombian side as he walked across. Three others smashed through a security barrier on the Simon Bolivar bridge crossing in their jeep.