One of the main border crossings between Brazil and Venezuela reopened Tuesday after a legal fight that kept it shuttered it for nearly a day.

It was the latest salvo in a tug-of-war between a state government overwhelmed by hundreds of Venezuelans arriving every day to escape their country's economic crisis and the federal government and higher courts, which insist the border must stay open.

The crossing in the Brazilian city of Pacaraima was closed Monday after Judge Helder Girao Barreto ruled it should be closed until a program to relocate Venezuelan refugees can keep pace with daily arrivals. That decision was reversed by an appellate court, and in a statement federal police said Tuesday the migration patterns had returned to normal.

This was not the first time the northern state of Roraima tried to curb the influx of Venezuelans. It had already urged the appellate court to close the border in April. Soon after that request was denied, Roraima asked the federal government for nearly $50 million to pay for public services for migrants. Last week, Roraima officials made it mandatory for Venezuelans to present their passports if they wanted to receive such services.

"With measures like the border closure, Roraima wants to pressure the federal government into reacting," said Eloi Martins Senhoras, an international relations professor at the Federal University of Roraima. "The state doesn't have the economic means to welcome all these migrants and refugees in a sustainable manner."

Over the past years, tens of thousands of Venezuelans have taken refuge in Brazil to flee the economic hardships in their home country.

But Marilene da Souza, a Brazilian who volunteers with an evangelical church to provide services to Venezuelans, said many continue to suffer even after arriving.

"It's chaos. The people who arrive are hungry, don't have any money, and have been walking on the highway for days," she said in a phone interview from Boa Vista, the capital of Roraima. "Once they get here, we often don't have enough space for them, so they're forced to live on the streets."

After the border reopened, local television showed hundreds of Venezuelans lining up to cross into Brazil.</s>RIO DE JANEIRO — One of the main border crossings between Brazil and Venezuela has reopened after a legal fight that kept it shuttered it for nearly a day.

It’s part of a tug-of-war between a state government overwhelmed by hundreds of Venezuelans arriving every day and the federal government and higher courts, which insist the border must stay open.

The crossing in the Brazilian city of Pacaraima was opened Tuesday after a lower court decision was overturned.

The border was closed Monday after Judge Helder Girao Barreto ruled it should be closed until a program to relocate Venezuelan refugees can keep pace with daily arrivals. However, that decision was reversed by an appellate court.

Over the last year, tens of thousands of Venezuelans, fleeing economic hardships, have taken refuge in Brazil.

Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.</s>RIO DE JANEIRO — One of the main border crossings between Brazil and Venezuela has reopened after a legal fight that kept it shuttered it for nearly a day.

It’s part of a tug-of-war between a state government overwhelmed by hundreds of Venezuelans arriving every day and the federal government and higher courts, which insist the border must stay open.

The crossing in the Brazilian city of Pacaraima was opened Tuesday after a lower court decision was overturned.

The border was closed Monday after Judge Helder Girao Barreto ruled it should be closed until a program to relocate Venezuelan refugees can keep pace with daily arrivals. However, that decision was reversed by an appellate court.

Over the last year, tens of thousands of Venezuelans, fleeing economic hardships, have taken refuge in Brazil.</s>Image copyright Reuters

Brazil has re-opened its northern border with Venezuela to those fleeing economic and political turmoil there, after briefly closing it.

The Supreme Court overturned an earlier order to shut the frontier until Brazil could put in place the right conditions to receive the huge influx of people.

Authorities in the state of Roraima in Brazil's Amazon region say some 500 Venezuelans cross the border every day.

The border was re-opened to Venezuelan migrants after a few hours on Monday.

"It is not justified to take the easy path to 'close the doors' because of difficulties in hosting refugees," Supreme Court justice Rosa Weber said in her ruling issued shortly before midnight.

The temporary order by a lower court judge stated that the border would remain open to Brazilians and other non-Venezuelans.

It was also to be open for Venezuelans returning north out of Brazil. Sea and air borders were unaffected by the ruling.

Many thousands of Venezuelans have fled into neighbouring countries, mainly Colombia and Brazil, in search of better economic conditions over the past three years.

An apparent assassination attempt on Venezuela's President Nicolás Maduro at the weekend has raised tensions in the country even further.

Image copyright EPA Image caption Many Venezuelans who have crossed into Brazil struggle to find accommodation

Most who have crossed the border to Brazil in recent months are living in appalling conditions on the streets of the Boa Vista, the impoverished state capital of Roraima, in the heart of the Amazon region.

For months, authorities in Roraima have been calling for the border to be shut. They say that public services have collapsed and that migration has brought about a sharp rise in crime.

Brazil's central government had opposed any border closure, saying that ordinary Venezuelans were suffering the consequences of a humanitarian crisis and that Brazil must continue to help.</s>MOVEMENT for Social Justice political leader David Abdulah has warned about the possibility of foreign military intervention in neighbouring Venezuela following the failed assassination attempt on Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro.

In a letter to the Partido Socialista Unido de Venezuela (PSUV) international relations vice president Adan Chavez Frias, Abdulah said the assassination attempt was an “act of terrorism” against the Venezuelan people.

According to international news outlets, two drones packed with explosives reportedly flew toward Maduro on Saturday night while he was addressing a huge outdoor event in Caracas to celebrate the 81st anniversary of the country’s National Guard.

In his letter, Abdulah said “extreme right wing forces inside Venezuela together with right wing forces outside of Venezuela, no doubt with the support of US imperialism” have been “hell bent” on the destruction of the Bolivarian Revolution.

He said their strategies included a military coup d’etat against then president Hugo Chavez; economic sabotage including capital flight and the hoarding of goods and the creation of artificial shortages.

Abdulah said violent street protests and the attempt to expel Venezuela from the Organisation of American States also formed part of the strategies to lay the platform for a military invasion of Venezuela.

In a subsequent interview, Abdulah said Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley, at a post Cabinet media briefing on April 26, had also alluded to unnamed persons who had wanted TT to join an invasion of Venezuela.

Rowley had said: ‘There are people who want us to join them in invading Venezuela. We are not doing that. There are people who want us to come out and speak and say the Venezuelan government is this or that. They can stay where they are. We are not doing that. Venezuela is our closest neighbour we work on neighbourly relationships and the assistance we provide is the assistance we can afford.’”

Asked to clarify just who was asking TT to invade Venezuela, Rowley said, ‘Grenada, probably, I don’t know.’

However, Abdulah said this invasion force may be backed by US forces and cited recent reports in US media outlets that US president Donald Trump had asked senior administration officials and world leaders about an invasion of the south American country multiple times in the past year.

Abdulah said Latin America and the Caribbean must be a “zone of peace” and Caricom member states should repudiate any attempt at military intervention.

“We further call on Caricom States and all others who claim to stand for democracy and who recognise the international principles of respect for the sovereignty of independent nation states and non- interference in the internal affairs of another nation state to respect Venezuela’s sovereignty and to condemn the attempt to assassinate the democratically elected President of Venezuela as an act of terrorism and an attack on democracy.”</s>RIO DE JANEIRO — One of the main border crossings between Brazil and Venezuela has reopened after a legal fight that kept it shuttered it for nearly a day.

It's part of a tug-of-war between a state government overwhelmed by hundreds of Venezuelans arriving every day and the federal government and higher courts, which insist the border must stay open.

The crossing in the Brazilian city of Pacaraima was opened Tuesday after a lower court decision was overturned.

The border was closed Monday after Judge Helder Girao Barreto ruled it should be closed until a program to relocate Venezuelan refugees can keep pace with daily arrivals. However, that decision was reversed by an appellate court.

Over the last year, tens of thousands of Venezuelans, fleeing economic hardships, have taken refuge in Brazil.</s>RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) - One of the main border crossings between Brazil and Venezuela has reopened after a legal fight that kept it shuttered it for nearly a day.

It's part of a tug-of-war between a state government overwhelmed by hundreds of Venezuelans arriving every day and the federal government and higher courts, which insist the border must stay open.

The crossing in the Brazilian city of Pacaraima was opened Tuesday after a lower court decision was overturned.

The border was closed Monday after Judge Helder Girao Barreto ruled it should be closed until a program to relocate Venezuelan refugees can keep pace with daily arrivals. However, that decision was reversed by an appellate court.

Over the last year, tens of thousands of Venezuelans, fleeing economic hardships, have taken refuge in Brazil.</s>Brazil reopened its northern border with Venezuela on Tuesday after a federal judge annulled a ruling that barred immigrants from entering the country.

Border entry points were opened again at 10 am following a ruling by an appellate court revoking the measure adopted Sunday by federal judge Helder Girao Barreto.</s>RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — One of the main border crossings between Brazil and Venezuela has reopened after a legal fight that kept it shuttered it for nearly a day.

It’s part of a tug-of-war between a state government overwhelmed by hundreds of Venezuelans arriving every day and the federal government and higher courts, which insist the border must stay open.

The crossing in the Brazilian city of Pacaraima was opened Tuesday after a lower court decision was overturned.

The border was closed Monday after Judge Helder Girao Barreto ruled it should be closed until a program to relocate Venezuelan refugees can keep pace with daily arrivals. However, that decision was reversed by an appellate court.

Over the last year, tens of thousands of Venezuelans, fleeing economic hardships, have taken refuge in Brazil.</s>One of the main border crossings between Brazil and Venezuela reopened Tuesday after a legal fight that kept it shuttered it for nearly a day.

It was the latest salvo in a tug-of-war between a state government overwhelmed by hundreds of Venezuelans arriving every day to escape their country’s economic crisis and the federal government and higher courts, which insist the border must stay open.

The crossing in the Brazilian city of Pacaraima was closed Monday after Judge Helder Girao Barreto ruled it should be closed until a program to relocate Venezuelan refugees can keep pace with daily arrivals. That decision was reversed by an appellate court, and in a statement federal police said Tuesday the migration patterns had returned to normal.

This was not the first time the northern state of Roraima tried to curb the influx of Venezuelans. It had already urged the appellate court to close the border in April. Soon after that request was denied, Roraima asked the federal government for nearly $50 million to pay for public services for migrants. Last week, Roraima officials made it mandatory for Venezuelans to present their passports if they wanted to receive such services.

“With measures like the border closure, Roraima wants to pressure the federal government into reacting,” said Eloi Martins Senhoras, an international relations professor at the Federal University of Roraima. “The state doesn’t have the economic means to welcome all these migrants and refugees in a sustainable manner.”

Over the past years, tens of thousands of Venezuelans have taken refuge in Brazil to flee the economic hardships in their home country.

But Marilene da Souza, a Brazilian who volunteers with an evangelical church to provide services to Venezuelans, said many continue to suffer even after arriving.

“It’s chaos. The people who arrive are hungry, don’t have any money, and have been walking on the highway for days,” she said in a phone interview from Boa Vista, the capital of Roraima. “Once they get here, we often don’t have enough space for them, so they’re forced to live on the streets.”

After the border reopened, local television showed hundreds of Venezuelans lining up to cross into Brazil.
Brazil re-opens its northern border with Venezuela which was briefly closed in response to refugees from Venezuela.