CARACAS, Oct. 5 (Xinhua) -- Venezuelan Vice-President Delcy Rodriguez on Friday said migration police will immediately be placed at border control checkpoints.
Rodriguez said the action was developed with the framework of the restructuring of the Administrative Service of Identification, Migration and Foreigners (SAIME) and is contemplated in the service law of the Bolivarian National Police (PNB).
"The migration police operation is now in place and will oversee the 72 control points that exist not only along the borders but also at the ports and airports," Rodriguez said.
Rodriguez said SAIME "will preserve the responsibilities in matters of identity and foreigners and everything related to migration control will now be passed on to the migration police."
The new police force will have similar functions to those that exist in other countries, where "migration police are a direct administrative service that confers operations to a body specialized in the matters," Rodriguez said.
The process of restructuring the services will fall under the Ministry of the Interior, Justice and Peace.
"With the migration police we move forward with the defense and preservation of Venezuelan sovereignty, and we move forward in the consolidation of security for citizens and move forward with migratory control," she said.
Rodriguez also announced at the same time that beginning on Nov.1 passports issued inside and outside the country can only be paid for in petros, the country's cryptocurrency.
"The cost of issuing a new passport will be two petros (230 U.S. dollars) and to renew the cost will be one petro (115 U.S. dollars)," Rodriguez said.
The petro is a digital currency driven by the Venezuelan government and can be used to purchase and sells goods and services at an international level and will also be used for some types of internal transactions.
