A view of Oranjestad, capital of Aruba. File photo.
The maritime connection between Venezuela and the island of Aruba, a Dutch overseas territory in the Caribbean, will reopen on May 1, 2023, announced the foreign affairs minister of Venezuela, Yvan Gil. This comes about as a result of the recent negotiations between Venezuela and the Kingdom of Netherlands.
Minister Gil stated that the reopening of the maritime border will strengthen the commercial exchange between Venezuela and Aruba, which will bring economic benefit for both peoples.
Como parte de las negociaciones con el Reino de los Países Bajos hemos acordado reabrir la interconexión marítima con Aruba a partir del 01 de mayo 2023. El intercambio comercial transfronterizo favorecerá el bienestar económico de nuestros pueblos pic.twitter.com/xYiCxcDKQM
— Yvan Gil (@yvangil) February 17, 2023
The government of Aruba announced the same in a statement. The prime minister of Aruba, Evelyn Wever Croes, said that the maritime opening was a first phase, which will allow the island “to import cheaper products from Venezuela such as fruits, vegetables, groceries and construction materials. This will help us to lower living costs. The talks to achieve this are in a very advanced stage.”
Aruba also contemplates opening the aerial borders in a second phase, but, so far, there are no details as to when that may happen. “There is still a lot of work to be done, and our departments of justice, immigration, and civil aviation are working on it,” Wever Croes added.
In December 2022, Venezuela and the Netherlands started technical talks for the gradual reopening of the maritime and aerial borders between Venezuela and the islands of the Netherlands Antilles—Aruba, Bonaire and Curaçao. The border between Venezuela and the three islands have remained closed since February 2019, after Juan Guaidó declared himself the “interim president” of Venezuela and extreme-right coup-plotters tried to forcibly enter the Venezuelan territory with “humanitarian aid” collected in Brazil, Colombia, and the Caribbean islands of the Netherlands.
It was announced earlier this month that the maritime and aerial borders between Venezuela and Curaçao will reopen on April 3.
(RedRadioVE) by Daniella García Lugo, with Orinoco Tribune content
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
OT/SC/AF
