The newspaper report describes accurately what happens in border areas. There's a very simple reason for this phenomenon. The bolivar is very overpriced and the government uses its dwindling petrodollar income to purchase food. This leads to low prices for imported food sold in Venezuela. Thus there's a significant driving force for individuals to purchase cheap food in Venezuela and carry it to Colombia. In Colombia they consolidate the food is sold at a discount for Colombian pesos. These pesos can be used to purchase 4 to 5 times the amount of bolivars spent to buy the food. Therefore each trip with a suitcase full of food can be very profitable.

If they close the bridge people will hump the food parcels elsewhere. But this trade is too good to give up. Because this is a traditional trade which emerged during the Chavez years, the people who make a living carrying food over the border don't have a different way to make a living.

This is the reason why Maduro is so disliked in border regions. The power cuts, the inflation, high crime, and now this attack on their way of living.

Regarding the power cuts, I hear there were riots in Ocumare after the town was left without electricity for 6 days. Ocumare is a fishing village near Cata, one of the best tourist destinations if one has the stomach to risk the trip. But if they lack electricity I don't see much tourist trade. Cutting their electric power for six days near the end of the tourist season must have really hurt business.