Ecopetrol contractors detained in Venezuela

OREANDA-NEWS. September 29, 2015. Two oil contractors were detained yesterday in Venezuela after apparently crossing the border accidentally, Colombia state-controlled Ecopetrol said.

The contractors employed by Colombian firm Serinco Drilling were carrying out maintenance on oil wells at Ecopetrol?s Tibu field in Norte de Santander province. Ecopetrol said the workers are expected to return to Colombia today.

Serinco could not be reached for comment. There was no comment or confirmation from Venezuela?s defense or foreign ministries.

The detentions take place against a tense backdrop after Caracas started closing its border crossings with Colombia on 20 August. Since then, thousands of Colombians have left, either through formal deportation or because of a wider crackdown by Venezuelan security forces. Caracas has suspended constitutional guarantees in Venezuelan border towns along with the closures of the crossing points.

The oil workers were detained "apparently because they crossed the border with Venezuela, but it's something the Colombian authorities are investigating," an Ecopetrol spokesperson said.

Colombia foreign ministry did not reply to a request for comment.

Caracas closed the main border crossings in an official effort to wipe out smuggling of fuel and food, whose prices are tightly controlled by the Venezuelan government. The huge price differential with Colombia has driven widespread contraband for many years.

Norte de Santander is among Colombia border provinces where smuggled Venezuelan goods had been widely available until the frontier was closed.

The province is also known for the presence of Colombian anti-government rebels that are tacitly supported by Venezuela.

The main rebel group Farc has been in peace talks with the Colombian government since late 2012, and is supposed to sign a definitive peace deal by March 2016. The group routinely attacked oil pipelines and other energy installations in Colombia.

The Colombian and Venezuelan governments are holding a series of high-level meetings in a bid to lower bilateral tensions. Venezuelan defense minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez will meet his Colombian counterpart Luis Carlos Villegas on 30 September in the Colombian city of Santa Marta. The meeting follows a 23 September encounter between the countries? foreign ministers, Venezuela?s Delcy Rodriguez and Colombia?s Maria Angela Holguin, in Caracas to discuss an agenda for normalizing bilateral relations and eventually re-opening the border.