The president of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, confirmed on Wednesday that his country and Colombia are working in technical commissions to guarantee what he called a progressive, productive and happy reopening of the common border.
The Colombian-Venezuelan border was closed to vehicular traffic since 2015, a policy maintained and reinforced by former Colombian President Iván Duque since 2018.
According to the Venezuelan head of state, “we are taking firm steps for a progressive, productive and happy opening of the 2,229 kilometers of border with Colombia.”
Maduro celebrated that for Venezuela, what he called “a gigantic market of 45 million inhabitants” will be opened in Colombia, to which Caracas, in full economic recovery, will be able to present its export offer that has grown, he said.
According to the Venezuelan president, Colombia “has high-quality products that Venezuela has always bought, distributed and consumed, and now, four years later, we are still producing, and we have a very good export offer for the people of Colombia.”
Venezuela and Colombia advance towards the restitution of commercial exchange
“We are going to the progressive, productive and happy opening of the 2,229 kilometers of border with Colombia. We are working in technical commissions to guarantee mobility.” detailed the @NicolasMaduro pic.twitter.com/olS4eEfff7
– Presidential Press (@PresidentialVen) August 31, 2022
The Venezuelan president invited investors from Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and Colombia to come and work the land: “We are going to make good agreements and produce food to export to Colombia, to the Middle East.”
In addition, the new Colombian ambassador to Venezuela, Armando Benedetti, confirmed that the petrochemical company Monómeros, which is owned by Venezuela and is located in Barranquilla, Colombia, will be managed by the board of directors appointed by President Nicolás Maduro, after more than three years controlled by a former opposition deputy.
According to the Bogotá ambassador, Nicolás Maduro is the president recognized by Colombian President Gustavo Petro, unlike his predecessor, Iván Duque, who identified another person.
(With information from Telesur)