Former deputy Juan Guaidó in a defeated posture. Photo: Reuters/Manaure Quintero.
On Sunday, August 14, during a conversation with a journalist from the Colombian news outlet Semana, the president of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, said that it is time for the normalization of relations with Venezuela to be reflected in binational trade and production.
“There is already a normal flow, now we have to expand that to the issue of trade, to the issue of production,” said the Colombian president in relation to progress in resuming diplomatic relations with Venezuela.
On Thursday, August 11, Caracas and Bogotá appointed ambassadors to consolidate the reestablishment of diplomatic ties, fractured during the outgoing administration of Iván Duque, who decided to ignore the Constitutional president of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, and ally himself with the self-proclaimed Juan Guaidó, following Washington’s strategy to oust the legitimate Venezuelan president.
President of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, uses Plato's Allegory of the Cave to illustrate that like the shadows on the cave wall, Juan Guaido's "presidency" is an illusion: it does not exist. https://t.co/uhqJtSMrhD
— Frederick B. Mills (@frederickbmills) August 15, 2022
President Petro was asked about Colombia’s support for Guaidó as head of state. Petro responded by recalling Plato’s allegory of the caves. As in the Platonic tale, he said, the reality of Juan Guaidó as president of Venezuela is made of pure shadows, it is non-existent.
The president of Colombia added that the former Popular Will deputy “has no control of anything in Venezuela.”
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CAVECOL expects to formalize procedures
The president of the Chamber of Venezuelan–Colombian Economic Integration (CAVECOL), Luis Alberto Russián, stated that the chamber has positive expectations about the resumption of commercial relationship between both nations.
In addition, Russián pointed out that CAVECOL is confident that the policies and measures to govern the economic sphere can be maintained in the medium and long term.
In the same way, he expressed his belief that if the commercial relationship is established through binational agreements, the need to demand customs imports duties can begin to be evaluated, including compliance with sanitary requirements and permits, and trade can continue with the supervision and controls that are required.
In recent days, many businesses in Venezuela have raised concerns about an abrupt trade opening, as this may jeopardize their operations in certain areas. These sectors, such as the plastic bags sector, have been requesting special protection from the Venezuelan government via import duties, in order to allow them to be more competitive with Colombian producers.
(Últimas Noticias) by Yairin Torres with Orinoco Tribune content
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
OT/JRE/SL
