After several years of estrangement, the border between Venezuela and Colombia opens.
The two countries again allowed the circulation of goods transport vehicles on Monday, September 26, after seven years of partial closure and three of total closure.
During a ceremony attended by Colombian President Gustavo Petro and representatives of his Venezuelan counterpart Nicolas Maduro, a first truck passed from Venezuela to Colombia at 12:35 p.m. (1635 GMT) via the Simon Bolivar international bridge, located between the Venezuelan town of San Antonio del Tachira and the Colombian town of Cucuta.
"We are resuming relations and taking firm action to advance the full and absolute opening of the border between brotherly peoples," the Venezuelan president wrote on Twitter.
"It's a historic and extraordinary day!"
El Presidente @petrogustavo, acompañado del @MinistroReyes, will lead the reapertura of the #FronterasAbiertas🇨🇴🇻🇪 con el país hermano de Venezuela.
¡Somos el #GobiernoDelCambio!
pic.twitter.com/0dxjvSgIrc
— MinTransporte (@MinTransporteCo) September 26, 2022
"It is very, very important that we can make progress on the fundamental rights of the population. Families have been separated. There has been a breakdown in our relationships of respect and trust," Colombian MP Jairo Cristo said during the ceremony.
The reopening of the border to goods transport vehicles is a first step towards the full restoration of trade between the two countries, which in 2008 weighed nearly 7.2 billion dollars.
In a symbolic act that announces the beginning of the opening of the border 🇨🇴🇻🇪, dos cargo trucks atravesaron el Puente Internacional Simón Bolívar: uno ingresó a venezolano territory;
el segundo, cruzó el aviso de bienvenida a nuestro país.
#FronterasAbiertas🇨🇴🇻🇪.
pic.twitter.com/lyWieFdIqb
— Cancillería Colombia (@CancilleriaCol) September 26, 2022
The election of Gustavo Petro changed the game
Venezuela and Colombia share 2,200 km of an often insecure border, with the presence of irregular groups and guerrillas as well as mafias engaged in smuggling and other crimes.
The two countries were also to resume their direct flights on Monday, between the two capitals in particular.
Estamos retomando relaciones y dando pasos firms para avanzar en la apertura total y absoluta de la frontera entre pueblos hermanos: Colombia y Venezuela.
¡Es un día histórico y transcendental!
— Nicolás Maduro (@NicolasMaduro) September 26, 2022
Caracas and Bogota formally resumed their bilateral relations on August 29 with the installation of respective ambassadors in the two capitals.
Venezuela severed ties with Colombia in 2019 in retaliation for former right-wing conservative President Ivan Duque's support for Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido.
The election of Gustavo Petro, Colombia's first left-wing president, changed the situation with a strong desire to normalize relations.
Border crossings for cargo trucks had been restricted since 2015 and blocked since 2019, when amid violent riots, Juan Guaido led a failed attempt to smuggle shipments of food and medicine sent from the United States.
With AFP
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