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 to the area.

Brazil will welcome Syrian refugees with "open arms," President Dilma Rousseff said Monday, as various Latin American nations sought to help with the human tidal wave fleeing the war-torn country.

In a video message marking Brazil's Independence Day, Rousseff said she wanted to "reiterate the government's willingness to welcome those who, driven from their homeland, want to come live, work and contribute to the prosperity and peace of Brazil." 

Chinese President Xi Jinping lauded his country as a major power and a force for world peace Thursday as he presided over a spectacular military parade marking the 70th anniversary of Japan's defeat in World War II.

With concerns rife over China's rise, Xi announced that the People's Liberation Army -- the world's largest military -- would be reduced by 300,000 personnel, although the defense ministry said the cuts would mainly fall on outdated units and non-combat staff.

Venezuela has arrested 32 alleged paramilitaries leading smuggling rings since it closed part of its border with Colombia, a top official said Tuesday.

They were captured after intelligence was gathered on such rings, Diosdado Cabello, the national assembly speaker and the country's de facto number two official after President Nicolas Maduro, told official media.

Colombia's President Juan Manuel Santos visited a tense border city Saturday amid an escalating row with neighboring Venezuela that triggered deportations and the exodus of thousands of Colombians back home.

"I am here to make sure our fellow Colombians get the services they need," Santos said as he began the tour of Cucuta, a far northeastern city of about 700,00 with close business ties to Venezuela and which has been on edge.

Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro indefinitely closed his country's border with Colombia and declared a state of emergency in part of the frontier region Friday, following an earlier attack that wounded four people.

Tensions run high along the 2,200-kilometer (1,400-mile) porous border, rife with guerrilla and smuggling activity, and the two countries almost went to war in 2008.

Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro has ordered part of frontier with Colombia closed after four people were wounded in an overnight attack along the border.

Speaking late Wednesday on state-run VTV television, Maduro said two men on motorcycles had attacked soldiers involved in anti-smuggling operations along the northwestern border with Colombia.

A former Venezuelan defense minister and ally-turned-critic of the late president Hugo Chavez has been released on parole after spending more than six years in prison on corruption charges, his lawyer said Thursday.

Raul Isaias Baduel, who was instrumental in restoring Chavez to power after an attempted coup in 2002, was released Wednesday night from the Ramo Verde military prison, his lawyer told AFP.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's government is misusing the criminal justice system to go after its critics, with prosecutors opening criminal cases against more than two dozen of them, Human Rights Watch charged Thursday.

"Venezuelan authorities have routinely abused their powers to limit free expression, undermining open, democratic debate that is especially critical with legislative elections coming up in December," said Jose Vivanco, HRW's Americas director.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's approval ratings may be languishing below 30 percent, but on Twitter he's as popular as Pope Francis — or so it would seem.

The socialist South American leader regularly sets social media afire with support, with heavily trending anti-U.S. campaigns such #ObamaYankeeGoHome and #ObamaRepealTheExecutiveOrder, which denounced U.S. sanctions on members of Maduro's administration.