Ricardo* sat on the stairs inside a Colombian migration office, dressed in his green Venezuelan military fatigues. He recalled his childhood, watching the late Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez deliver charismatic speeches on television.
Ricardo said Chavez inspired him to join the armed forces.
A Venezuelan National Guard defector at a migration office in Cucuta, Colombia. Photo: Steven Grattan
Bogota, Colombia - US Vice President Mike Pence announced fresh US sanctions against allies of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on Monday, after meeting with Latin American leaders including Venezuela's self-declared interim president Juan Guaido in Colombia.
Venezuela’s self-declaired intirim president Juan Guaido, Colombian president Ivan Duque and the United States Vice-president Mark Spence meet at the Lima group in Bogota, Monday 25th Feb. Photo: Cancelleria.
At least two people were killed and trucks loaded with foreign aid were set ablaze after Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro deployed troops and armored vehicles to turn back humanitarian assistance at border crossings with Colombia and Brazil.
Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido, who many nations have recognized as the country's rightful interim ruler, talks to the media during a news conference near the Tienditas cross-border bridge between Colombia and Venezuela, in Cucuta, Colombia February 23, 2019. REUTERS/Luisa Gonzalez
CUCUTA, Colombia - Tensions along the Colombia-Venezuela border over the entry of aid meant to alleviate widespread food and medicine shortages in the socialist country will be accompanied by music on Friday, as rival concerts kick off on both sides of the boundary.
Maicao, Colombia - Gusts of hot desert wind drift through the broken window, shattered by a stone, in the house that Madonna Badillo shares with seven Venezuelan sex workers. Badillo fixed the window many times before but eventually gave up. Harassers have repeatedly hurled rocks at the home as an act of aggression against her and the transgender people taking refuge here.
![Badillo says she has endured discrimination and violence over the years [Steven Grattan/Al Jazeera]](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5bc413189b7d1509fe6fc64b/1551038693473-HX09GO24MS1BBRW73W9Q/IMG_7465.JPG)
Badillo says she has endured discrimination and violence over the years [Steven Grattan/Al Jazeera]
Daniela wakes up at 4am everyday to begin an hour and a half walk to school in Colombia, across the Venezuelan border. The three hour round trip is normal to her now, she says. The 14-year-old mathematics enthusiast has made this commute to Colombia for two years, after earning a competitive spot at a high school near the border town of Cúcuta.
These Venezuelan children cross into Colombia everyday to attend school, a three hour round trip. Photo: Steven Grattan
CUCUTA, Colombia — The usual steady stream of Venezuelan migrants crossed the bridge into Colombia on Wednesday and lined up for free food and aid at soup kitchens and shelters. In the intense heat, women and children waited outside a Red Cross checkpoint, to receive urgent medical attention, seemingly unaware of the larger geopolitical struggle underway.
Trucks arrive with US Aid on Colombia’s Tienditas bridge, where it is stockpiled in warehouses. Photo: Steven Grattan
U.S. Senator Marco Rubio, visiting the Colombia-Venezuela border on Sunday, warned Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro of severe consequences if he takes action against the country’s opposition leader and self-declared president or U.S. citizens.
© Reuters. U.S. Senator Marco Rubio visits the Colombia-Venezuela border at the Simon Bolivar International Bridge on the outskirts of Cucuta
A U.S. military transport plane carrying humanitarian aid meant for Venezuelans landed on Saturday in the Colombian border city of Cucuta, where food and medicine is being stored amid uncertainty over how and where aid will be distributed.
A worker organises humanitarian aid for Venezuela at a warehouse near the Tienditas cross-border bridge between Colombia and Venezuela in Cucuta, Colombia February 14, 2019. REUTERS/Edgard Garrido
The Colombian border town of Cúcuta is the main point of exodus for Venezuelans leaving their troubled homeland, with up to 40,000 people crossing backwards and forwards here each day.
Journalist Steven Grattan went to Cúcuta, once a thriving hub for Venezuelan tourists, and discovered how it is struggling to host hundreds of thousands of new migrants who have landed in a region where education and health institutions are now at breaking point.
Sergio Carmargo, 59, in the elderly line at the church-run soup kitchen in Cúcuta. CREDIT: Steven Grattan/IRIN)