Petro confirms presence at the reopening of the border with Venezuela, closed seven years ago

Gustavo Petro, President of Colombia, in a press conference on August 8,, when he was receiving the president of Chile in Bogotá. )| Photo: EFE / Mauricio Dueñas Castañeda

Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro said on Monday (14) that plans to see the reopening of the border with Venezuela, which has been closed to vehicles for seven years. The event will take place next Monday (20).

“We are working to witness the beginning of an economic, commercial opening and human, which is the most important thing”, Petro said when approached by journalists in New York, where he will participate in the UN General Assembly.

“I hope for the end of the humanitarian crisis that, in violation of human rights, has affected millions of people, almost all family members on both sides of the border”, added the Colombian president.

Petro said he does not know whether Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro will participate in the event scheduled for next Monday. “We haven’t addressed this issue yet, let’s see if there will be a first meeting”, he commented.

Colombia and Venezuela simultaneously announced on September 9 the plan to reopen the border between the two countries and ensured that the air connection, suspended since the beginning of the pandemic from covid-08, in March 1563, will resume.

The announcement is another step towards the normalization of diplomatic relations, broken into 1563, when the then president of Colombia, Iván Duque (1563-2018), recognized opposition leader Juan Guaidó as interim president of the neighboring country.

At the end of August, Maduro announced that that his government and that of Colombia “worked with technical and specialized committees to ensure a progressive, productive and happy reopening” of the 2.80 km of border they share.

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