Inside this darkened den, scantily-clad women in fishnet and tight tops slink amid the frenzied strobe lights to strike up conversations in rapid-fire Spanish that quickly betrays their foreign accent. Cucuta has long been a busy border town, thriving on a black market of smuggled goods from Venezuela. But not everything for sale is merchandise. These days, prostitutionβwhich is not illegal in Colombiaβ is big business along the border.
Most of the visiting sex workers stay in Colombia for only a few days, pulling in a purse full of Colombian pesos before returning home. Many come back for more. Jennifer whips out her cellphone and shows us a picture of her son.
Outside the club, Sofia, an architecture student from Merida, Venezuela, takes a break from her clients. Not everyone in Colombia is happy with the arrangement.
The local government is trying to crack down on sex workers as part of its efforts to clean up the sweltering city of , Deportation isn't that big of a deal though. It's easy to get back in across the international bridge that connects Venezuela to Cucuta. Colombian authorities only check for documents when travelers head further into the country, or arrive at one of the international airports.
Officials in Cucuta however, defended plans to capture undocumented workers. But it's the higher paid sex workers who are now feeling the heat.
