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Venezuelan workers removing the containers installed at the Simon Bolivar international bridge, to prevent the force entry of alleged humanitarian aid that ended up being material for violent riots on February 2019. Photo courtesy of Twitter / @FreddyBernal.
As of this Tuesday, October 5, trade exchange will be opened on the Colombian-Venezuelan border, as reported by Vice President of Venezuela, Delcy Rodríguez.
In her statement from Miraflores Palace, Rodríguez stressed that commercial exchange must comply with strict biosafety measures.
“This should be a biosecure exchange. Let us remember that in Colombia there is a variant of interest to the WHO, which has had an impact on western states of Venezuela,” the vice president recalled. Colombians have suffered from a mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic and the country has one of the highest death rates in the region, while Venezuela has one of the lowest.
Rodríguez also stressed that the commercial exchange between Colombia and Venezuela has historically exceeded seven billion dollars annually. In that sense, she affirmed that this is a very direct message to the productive forces of Colombia and Venezuela, and to commercial entities.
RELATED CONTENT: Freddy Bernal: Commercial Reopening of Colombian Border is Necessary
The vice president asserted that the border between Colombia and Venezuela is large, so the responsibility is shared.
“We were closed since 2019,” recalled Rodríguez, “because the government of Donald Trump, in conjunction with the Lima Group, now the Pandora Group, made the terrible violation, the disastrous decision to try to undermine the territorial integrity of Venezuela.”
#HaceMinutos || Vicepdta. @delcyrodriguezv: Siempre nuestro Pdte. @NicolasMaduro pensando en nuestro pueblo, en la hermandad y la cooperación entre el pueblo de Colombia y el pueblo de Venezuela, ha tomado la decisión de abrir el paso comercial binacional.#4Oct pic.twitter.com/DpFEh3Q2dI
— Vicepresidencia Vzla (@ViceVenezuela) October 4, 2021
In this regard, she recalled that Colombian criminal gangs and paramilitary gangs have incurred complaints regarding attempted incursions into Venezuela.
Rodríguez clarified that merchants must have a COVID-19 vaccination card in order to carry out commercial exchange on the Colombian-Venezuelan border.
For several months Venezuelan authorities led by Freddy Bernal, and Colombian authorities, with representatives of Colombian President Iván Duque, have been working to achieve this goal. Last Friday, Venezuelan authorities met with the administration of Norte de Santander, Colombia, to establish three points of action:
• Establish a school corridor for minors living in border municipalities.
• Review of import protocols.
• Open the commercial passage at the border to reactivate the economic and productive apparatus.
The Colombian-Venezuelan border has been closed since 2019, after the Government of Iván Duque and the self-proclaimed Juan Guaidó at that time tried to enter the country with purported humanitarian aid. The border was closed by both countries, following the rupture of diplomatic and consular relations.
Featured image: Venezuelan workers removing the containers at the Simon Bolivar international bridge, installed to prevent the forced entry of alleged humanitarian aid—that ended up being material for violent riots—in February 2019. Photo courtesy of Twitter/@FreddyBernal.
(RedRadioVE) by Ana Perdigón, with Orinoco Tribune content.
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
OT/JRE/SL
