“Thousands of Venezuelans living near the border discovered years ago that smuggling heavily subsidized food into Colombia made them far more money than the meagre wages from regular jobs. But with crisis-hit Venezuela suffering drastic food shortages this year and local resale prices spiralling, some have decided to flip the business model: zipping into Colombia to buy flour, rice and even diapers for desperate shoppers back in Venezuela. “Colombia is what is saving people”, said the smuggler, a former construction worker who asked to remain anonymous to avoid arrest. He says he keeps some food for his wife and three children but sells most of it to markets in Venezuela's Andean border state of Tachira or in the capital, Caracas.

Leftist President Nicolas Maduro last year closed crossings into Colombia to try to end the smuggling he said was bleeding Venezuela dry. But the about-face in smuggling routes in the last few months was clear one morning late last week when Reuters journalists saw hundreds of people streaming into Colombia to buy food, medicines, and basic hygiene products. Dozens lined up on a bridge to plead with the military to let them through. Others drifted over in wooden boats right under the nose of Venezuela's National Guard and army. A half-dozen said they bribed officials to cross over dirt roads, and a few swam from one leafy shore to the other. The business is driven by Venezuela's worsening economic crisis. Poor and middle-class people brave food lines for hours but increasingly end up empty-handed. Many are forced to skip meals and survive on mangoes and plantains, or forage through garbage”. – Alexandra Ulmer and Anggy Polanco via Reuters



People line up to try to buy toilet paper and diapers outside a pharmacy in Caracas, Venezuela May 16, 2016. (Photo by Carlos Garcia Rawlins/Reuters)





A Venezuelan woman looks for tires at a stall in Puerto Santander, Colombia, June 3, 2016. (Photo by Carlos Garcia Rawlins/Reuters)





A woman tries to reach a package of nappies at a store in Puerto Santander, Colombia, June 3, 2016. (Photo by Carlos Garcia Rawlins/Reuters)





A woman holding Venezuelan bolivar notes carries a pack of toilet paper at a store in Puerto Santander, Colombia, June 3, 2016. (Photo by Carlos Garcia Rawlins/Reuters)





Customers wait to be served at a store that sells food and staple items in Puerto Santander, Colombia, June 3, 2016. (Photo by Carlos Garcia Rawlins/Reuters)





A Venezuelan man pushes tires down the street after buying them in Puerto Santander, Colombia, June 3, 2016. (Photo by Carlos Garcia Rawlins/Reuters)





A man uses a machine to count Venezuelan bolivar notes at a store that sells staple items and food in Puerto Santander, Colombia, June 3, 2016. (Photo by Carlos Garcia Rawlins/Reuters)





A woman sweeps in front of piles of tires and shoes for sale at a shoe store in Puerto Santander, Colombia, June 3, 2016. (Photo by Carlos Garcia Rawlins/Reuters)





Women holding Venezuelan bolivar notes talk in front of a store that sells food and staple items in Puerto Santander, Colombia, June 3, 2016. (Photo by Carlos Garcia Rawlins/Reuters)





People wait their turn to cross to Boca del Grita in Venezuela, over a river that marks the border near Puerto Santander, Colombia, June 3, 2016. (Photo by Carlos Garcia Rawlins/Reuters)





Men carry a bag filled with staple items in front of a store in Puerto Santander, Colombia, June 3, 2016. (Photo by Carlos Garcia Rawlins/Reuters)





People arrive by canoe at Boca del Grita in Venezuela after crossing the border from the town of Puerto Santander, Colombia, June 3, 2016. (Photo by Carlos Garcia Rawlins/Reuters)





A man carries stacks of Venezuelan bolivar notes as he crosses in a canoe to Boca del Grita in Venezuela, across the border from Puerto Santander, Colombia, June 3, 2016. Picture taken from the Colombia side of the Venezuela-Colombia border. (Photo by Carlos Garcia Rawlins/Reuters)





A man crosses to Boca del Grita in Venezuela, carrying a plastic bag, through a river opposite the border town of Puerto Santander, Colombia, June 3, 2016. Picture taken from the Colombia side of the Venezuela-Colombia border. (Photo by Carlos Garcia Rawlins/Reuters)





Staple items and hygiene products, some made in Colombia, are seen at a stall next to a road in Boca del Grita, Venezuela, June 3, 2016. (Photo by Carlos Garcia Rawlins/Reuters)





People carry goods past Venezuelan soldiers as they disembark from a boat at Boca del Grita in Venezuela after crossing the border from Puerto Santander, Colombia, June 3, 2016. Picture taken from the Colombia side of the Venezuela-Colombia border. (Photo by Carlos Garcia Rawlins/Reuters)





Staple items and hygiene products, some made in Colombia, are seen at a stall next to a road in Boca del Grita, Venezuela, June 3, 2016. (Photo by Carlos Garcia Rawlins/Reuters)





Carlos Cure holds packets of corn flour made in Colombia as he poses for a picture at a stall that sells food and staple items at a market in La Fria, Venezuela, June 2, 2016. (Photo by Carlos Garcia Rawlins/Reuters)





Plastic bags filled with Venezuelan bolivar notes are seen on a currency trader's table on a street in Puerto Santander, Colombia, June 3, 2016. (Photo by Carlos Garcia Rawlins/Reuters)





Packages of corn flour that are made in Colombia are displayed among vegetables at a stall at a market in La Fria, Venezuela, June 2, 2016. (Photo by Carlos Garcia Rawlins/Reuters)





A man weighs milk powder that is made in Colombia, before selling it to his customers at a stall that sells basic food and staple items at a market in La Fria, Venezuela, June 2, 2016. (Photo by Carlos Garcia Rawlins/Reuters)





A boy gives a packet of toilet paper, that is made in Colombia, to a customer at a stall that sells staple items and food at a market in La Fria, Venezuela, June 2, 2016. (Photo by Carlos Garcia Rawlins/Reuters)





Bottles of cooking oil that are made in Colombia are displayed at a stall that sells food and staple items at a market in La Fria, Venezuela, June 2, 2016. (Photo by Carlos Garcia Rawlins/Reuters)





A boy puts packets of corn flour that are made in Colombia in a plastic bag, at a stall that sells food and staple items at a market in La Fria, Venezuela, June 2, 2016. (Photo by Carlos Garcia Rawlins/Reuters)