OZY: Coronavirus pushes biggest migration in the Americas underground →

When Colombian President Iván Duque’s government closed the country’s border with Venezuela on March 14, its move was aimed at reducing the risk of the coronavirus spreading into the nation from its troubled neighbor. Two weeks later, that decision appears to have spawned a different consequence — merely making it even more dangerous and exploitative for Venezuelan migrants seeking to escape their country.

People coming from Venezuela with protective face masks as a precautionary measure to avoid contracting the novel coronavirus hold their documents on the border at Simon Bolivar International Bridge, in Cucuta, Colombia. SCHNEYDER MENDOZA/AFP VIA GETTY