Cúcuta (Colombia) (AFP) – Colombia's immigration authority expelled 80 Venezuelans on Friday because they were suspected of committing crimes in the country, in line with the guidelines of the right-wing government of Abelardo de la Espriella.

First modification: 11/09/2026 - 10:41

A few days after assuming power on August 7, the president ordered operations to deport irregular migrants and those involved in criminal activities.

"Among the behaviors recorded are theft, drug trafficking, extortion, conspiracy to commit a crime, carrying sharp weapons, consumption of psychoactive substances and disrespect for authority," the right-winger wrote in X.

In buses and some of them with their hands tied in front, the Venezuelans were taken to the border bridge known as Tienditas where police and soldiers monitored the expulsion process, AFP confirmed.

There they received coffee, water and bread, while officials from immigration authorities from both countries carried out the process on either side of the bridge.

The migrants had arrived from Bogotá to the airport in the border city of Cúcuta on an Air Force plane, according to AFP reporters.

The expelled people are not condemned in Colombia, which in the last decade has been the main destination for the exodus of Venezuelans fleeing the crisis in their country.

In the almost three months of the right-wing government, several military planes arrived in Cúcuta with migrants on board to be expelled, a military source told AFP.

The last one arrived last week with dozens of Venezuelans from Medellín, the source said.

As of October 29, the immigration authority counts 812 migrants of different nationalities expelled and deported from Colombia.

Some 2.8 million Venezuelan migrants live in Colombia, according to official figures.

Of them, more than 527,000 are in an irregular situation.

"I am not going to accept illegal migration. First the Colombians, second the Colombians and third the Colombians, so that it is clear to everyone," De la Espriella said in August.

Traditionally, the Colombian right promoted welcoming policies for the Venezuelan diaspora with a strong discourse against Chavismo.

"Deported! (...) I am not going to accept illegal migrants, wherever they come from," the president said then.

Traversed by six decades of armed conflict, Colombia has not had a tradition of receiving migrants, but rather has seen millions of its inhabitants escape from violence and poverty to the United States, Spain and other countries.

© 2026 AFP

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