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Booming business on Venezuela's 'wild' border
http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2016/10/booming-business-venezuela-wild-border-161005104647300.html---------------------
Venezuela opened its borders with Colombia over the summer to allow Venezuelans to cross and buy basic goods such as rice, flour, toilet paper and toothpaste from markets and shops in Colombia.
At home, such items are expensive and in short supply - if not entirely unavailable. The shortages and extreme inflation, largely due to the crash in oil prices, have left Venezuelans scrambling. They pile into buses to come to Puerto Santander, some travelling for days just to cross the border for a few hours, returning again by bus immediately after.
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Colombian shop owners and Venezuelan smugglers along the border enjoy a different experience from their customers: Business has never been better.
Stores are crowded from dawn well into the night, fully stocked with the products Venezuelans flock to buy.
