Colombia-Venezuela Border Reopening: Commercial Exchange Resumes Successfully
On Tuesday, October 5, commercial exchange at the Colombian-Venezuelan border was resumed as an economic reactivation measure for the Venezuelan state of Táchira and the Colombian department of Norte de Santander.
Venezuelan Deputy Minister of Commerce, Luis Villegas, announced that the commercial reopening on the Colombia-Venezuela border was a total success.
Villegas stressed that this measure would significantly boost the economy of the region, aiming to consolidate its economic stability.
Hoy se reinició con total éxito el intercambio comercial en la frontera colombo-venezolana. Una medida que va a dinamizar de manera importante la economía de esta región del país. ¡De la mano del C/J @NicolasMaduro continúa la consolidación de la anhelada estabilidad económica! pic.twitter.com/PxVrrGU3L9
— Tcnel. Luis Antonio Villegas Ramírez (@luis_villegasr) October 5, 2021
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On Monday, October 4, Vice President of Venezuela, Delcy Rodríguez, announced that the commercial reopening of the Colombia-Venezuela border will start the next day.
Following the announcement, government authorities opened the border crossing at the Simón Bolívar international bridge. The border crossing had been closed with a wall of containers since February 2019, after the rupture of diplomatic relations between Venezuela and Colombia.
Rodríguez clarified that merchants must have a COVID-19 vaccination card in order to carry out trade operations at the border.
She also stressed that commercial exchange must comply with strict biosafety measures, since “a COVID variant of interest to the WHO,” specifically the “Mu” variant, has been circulating in Colombia and has also affected the western states of Venezuela.
For his part, Táchira protectorate and candidate for the governorship of the state, Freddy Bernal, informed that the mass vaccination process has been sped up in the region, and 44% of the population is already immunized.
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¡Me siento orgulloso por cumplir lo prometido! Vamos a seguir regularizando el paso en medio de una pandemia que no podemos olvidar, y aceleraremos los trámites administrativos para respetar los protocolos de las autoridades de Norte de Santander. 2/3 pic.twitter.com/W3V8HzZPoX
— Freddy Bernal (@FreddyBernal) October 4, 2021
Bernal explained that both Venezuelan and Colombian citizens in the area are included in the vaccination process that is being carried out in the state.
“I invite the entire commercial and business community and authorities of Norte de Santander to join this opening, because the relation between Venezuela and Colombia cannot continue to be perturbed by political ideology,” wrote Bernal on his Twitter account. “We will go on winning!”
The Colombia-Venezuela border had remained closed since February 2019 when the government of Colombian President Iván Duque and former deputy Juan Guaidó, self-proclaimed “interim president” of Venezuela, tried to enter the country and forcibly push supposedly “humanitarian aid” into Venezuelan territory, which turned out to be weapons and led to violent riots at the border.
Featured image: Colombia-Venezuela border between Táchira and Norte de Santander opened after more than 2 years. File photo.
(RedRadioVE) by Ana Perdigón
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
OT/GMS/SC
