BORDER zones are zones of cultural lending, borrowing and appropriation, and, therefore, a privileged vantage point for understanding the phenomenon of international migration. This essay attempts to examine certain aspects of the transborder dislocation process in northern Brazil (the city of Pacaraima, state of Roraima) and in southern Venezuela (the city of Gran Sabana, state of Bolívar), and point out its trends and reflections on the sociocultural makeup of those contact zones. In this Brazil-Venezuela border, the largest movement is clearly that of Brazilians going into Venezuela and Guyana in search of job opportunities in mining, local business and transportation, not to mention illegal activities such as the traffic of women, fuel smuggling and illicit money exchange. Yet a new trend is now emerging, namely, the immigration of foreigners from other South American countries, such as Peru and Colombia. These migrants cross over into neighboring countries following a route whose front door is Venezuela, Guyana and the Brazilian state of Amazonas.
Transborder migration; Brazil-Venezuela border; Cultural makeup
