Since many of the international flights to Venezuela have been suspended due to U.S. military threats to the country, travel to Venezuela is getting more and more difficult.
One primary way to enter the South American nation now is via a land port from Colombia's Cucuta.
As one of the cities with the highest crime rates in Colombia, it has a cross-border bridge --Simon Bolivar International Bridge that connects to Venezuelan city of San Antonio del Tachira.
The bridge is also one of the most important and busiest land routes between the two countries.
Many Venezuelans come to Cucuta via this bridge to purchase daily supplies; meanwhile most of the vendors and drivers there are Venezuelans as well.
San Antonio del Tachira is considered the most famous border city of Venezuela. It shares similar population composition, culture and diet with Cucuta, the Colombian border city located across the bridge.
Local economic mainstay is frontier trade, including the imports and exports of food, daily necessities and fuels.
Its airport -- Juan Vicente Gomez International Airport -- is only a 10-minute drive from city center.
It only takes about one hour to fly to Caracas, Venezuela's capital, from San Antonio del Tachira.
The Simon Bolivar International Airport, however, did not seem seriously impacted by the flight suspension. On the contrary, it witnesses increasing passengers who are returning home or going on vocation in holiday season.
Travels to Venezuela get more difficult as int'l flights suspend
