Venezuelan president closes more of border with Colombia

Caracas: Venezuela`s President Nicolas Maduro late Monday said he had ordered more of his country`s vast border with Colombia closed amid a diplomatic crisis over deportations and smuggling.

"I have decided to close the border crossing at Paraguachon, Zulia state," Maduro said in a televised address. He said he would send an additional 3,000 troops in to the area.

The countries have been locked in a row since Maduro on August 19 closed part of the border after unidentified assailants attacked a Venezuelan anti-smuggling patrol, wounding three soldiers and a civilian.

Maduro blamed the attack on right-wing paramilitaries from Colombia.

He has accused the neighboring country of waging an attack on Venezuela`s economy -- a reference to the rampant smuggling of heavily subsidized food and other goods out of Venezuela, where more than five million Colombians live.