How a bridge between Colombia and Venezuela became part of a propaganda fight

Over the past week or so, theimage of a blockaded bridge between Colombia and Venezuela has been all over news sites around the world. It's been featured instories describing how the president of Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro, is keeping internationalfood aid from his desperate citizens.

Trouble is, the photo doesn't tell the full story.

CBC News was among the manynewsorganizationsthatused the photo in stories, stating that Maduro'sforces had purposely blocked the TienditasBridge with shipping containers and a fuel tanker.

Yes,Maduroorderedthe containersbe put there, and no, he does not want internationalaid coming in through that corridor. He maintains there is no food shortage in Venezuela, despite numerous reports to the contrary, including from Human Rights Watch.

But the question is, would that bridgeeven be used to bring the aid into Venezuela from Colombia if it weren't blocked?

The bridge, which spans between Cucuta, Colombia, and the town of Pedro Maria Urena in Venezuela, hadn't been open for years. In fact, it's never been open.

So, what happened?

On Feb. 6,U.S. Secretary of StateMike Pompeo sent a tweet that drew a lot of attention.

The tweet helped back the U.S. position that Madurois no longer the legitimate president and must go.

Maduro, who is in his second term as president, declared victory after a 2018 election. His opponents disputed the legitimacy of the election and called for a new vote.

The U.S. (along with Canada, the U,K, and several Latin American countries) expressed concern aboutMaduro'slegitimacy before he even began his second term. When JuanGuaido, leader of the opposition in the National Assembly, said he would serve as interimpresident pending new elections, the U.S.,Canada and other Western countrieswere quick to announcetheir support.

But what Pompeodidn't say in his tweet and what manynews organizations, including CBC News,didn't report was that the bridge in the tweet has never been open to traffic.

Construction of the bridge was finished in 2016, amidalready heated tensions between the two countries. But Colombian and Venezuelan authorities could not reach an agreementto open it.Nearby bridges were already being used to smuggle in goods and fuel from Colombia to Venezuela.

You can see the Tienditas Bridgehere on Google Maps:

According to Google, the photo was captured in June 2017.

The fences were already there, as were the concrete blocks. All that Maduro's forces added last week were the shipping containers and tanker trailer.

The humanitarianaid Pompeo referred to is currently sitting in warehouses in the Colombian border town of Cucuta. It represents only a fraction of what has been promised from the United States, Canada and other allies of the Venezuelan opposition.

On Tuesday, Guaido announced he will open "a humanitarian corridor" to run caravans of food into Venezuela, but not until Feb. 23. Guaido, who doesn't control the military or state institutions,didn'tgive any details of how or where that would happen.

Some diplomats and opposition allies of Guaido have questioned whether such an undertaking would be possible to accomplish in just 10 days.

Catch up on CBC's Venezuela coverage from Caracas: