> 30% did not cross back.
Not surprisingly. It can easily become a humanitarian problem for Colombia. What is the political sentiment in Colombia about this ?
It's not easy for them to leave because their currency is basically worthless and access to hard currency is restricted to the well-connected.
Also the Venezuelan government closed the border about one year ago. They also kicked out all Colombians from Venezuela. According to the Venezuelan government everything bad that happens there is consequence of the vast Colombian-American right wing conspiracy.
Colombians are generally cool about Venezuelans, as the two countries are very similar to each other and have a long history together (at one point they were part of the same country). Neither the people nor the government opposes Venezuelan immigration, as far as I can tell.
But Colombia ain't exactly the land of milk and honey and Venezuelans know it. If they are not rushing in greater numbers to the border is because they know that, while there may not be any shortages or blackouts here, jobs are also few and far between.
Venezuela has been in a disastrous economic situation for years, but nowhere as bad what we are seeing these days.
Just yesterday their government opened the border with Colombia for 12 hours (they have kept it closed for a year) and about 125 thousand people crossed into Colombia to buy basic groceries and medicines. 30% did not cross back.