venezuela

Even as the diplomats met in this Caribbean coastal resort, motorists in the Colombian city of Cucuta complained of long gas lines as Venezuela's security offensive cuts off trade, legal and otherwise, between the two nations.

Across the border, scores of Colombians packed their belongings into suitcases and prepared for an army escort out of Venezuela, joining the estimated 1,000 of their compatriots who have already been deported.

 Clutching a tiny Bible, Gilda Velasquez leans over her son as he falls asleep with the help of a powerful sedative and a catchy cartoon jingle playing on a hand-held TV.

"Remember, you're a Christian, you're a Christian," she repeats amid her tears to Yin Carlos as orderlies wheel the 6-year-old into the operating room where he will get a new liver.

For any family touched by liver disease, an organ transplant can be a second chance at life. But the procedure is practically a miracle in Venezuela, where an economic crisis makes even needles and acetaminophen scarce.