After seven years of closure, the reopening of the border with Venezuela is exciting in Colombia

On the border between Colombia and Venezuela, you feel the air the enthusiasm for the announced reopening of the crossings between the department of Norte de Santander and the Venezuelan state of Táchira, which the inhabitants of the area see as a new beginning of the bilateral relationship.

On the Simón Bolívar international bridge, the main of the four connecting the two towns in the Cúcuta area, Colombian workers wash the exterior of the offices of the National Directorate of Taxes and Customs (DIAN) with soap and water, while a bricklayer patches up and paints the interior walls so that they are as good as new when normalcy returns.

The works also include the restoration of electricity networks to prepare the structures for when the reopening of the border promised by the new Colombian president, Gustavo Petro, will materialize.

closed seven years

This border crossing was in the past the most dynamic in the country due to its intense commercial activity but it is closed to vehicles for seven yearsby order of the Venezuelan president, Nicolás Maduro, therefore any movement for the announced normalization excites those who continue to walk in the area.

“We live badly on the border, we are starving and with the little we do by selling small things we manage to survive. If they opened the border it would be a favorable change for everyone, the closure left us very impressed “, says Ernesto Oliveros, seller of water and soft drinks in La Parada, a Colombian village located opposite the Venezuelan city of San Antonio del Táchira.

In La Parada, which is part of Villa del Rosario, in the metropolitan area of ​​Cúcuta, capital of the Norte de Santander, Venezuelans continue to arrive every day who carry or drag suitcases with groceries and other products purchased from the Colombian side, but they are no longer the crowds of the years before the pandemic, when more than 35,000 Venezuelans passed by every day, but rather few.

Prepare the ground

Next week, Aug.19, will mark seven years since the border was closed by Maduro, who later strengthened his position with Colombia by severing diplomatic relations on Feb.23, 2019, in response to support from the then Colombian president. , Iván Duque, gave the Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó.

That turbulent relationship between the two countries began to change with the election of Petro, greeted from the start by Madurowho has with the new Colombian president that political and ideological harmony that he never had with either Duque or with his predecessor, Juan Manuel Santos, to the point that the two governments are already preparing the resumption of diplomatic and consular relations.

This was stated by the government secretary of Villa del Rosario, Vladimir Lindarte they have been working for months in the La Parada ordinance and that they are ready for the total reopening of the border.

This preparation involves the activation of all security and public order protocols for when the border bridges are open to vehicular traffic.

“The organization is made up of street vendors and public service drivers, looking for order and everything to fix before the Simón Bolívar bridge is completely open,” explains Lindarte.

Meanwhile, Víctor Bautista, border secretary of the government of Norte de Santander, assures that he has held meetings with the Colombian Foreign Ministry so that the gradually and neatly the reopening of the border, which they hope will include The Tienditas bridgethe most modern of all e still brand new.

Lateral and lateral expectations

After the new Colombian foreign minister, Álvaro Leyva Durán, and his Venezuelan counterpart, Carlos Faría, met two weeks ago in the Venezuelan city of San Cristóbal and announced the forthcoming appointment of ambassadorsthe expectation of normalization has only increased.

This Tuesday it was the turn of the Venezuelan Defense Minister, Vladimir Padrino López, to announce that by order of Maduro he will establish “immediate” contact with his Colombian colleague, Iván Velásquez, to “re-establish” military relations.

In the last few days, versions have been circulating around a possible meeting of the two presidents to settle the differences between the two governments once and for all, but Petro himself on Monday was tasked with bringing down those expectations.

“If there was a meeting, there would be not only information but also preparation, and this does not exist”, said the new Colombian president, who added that although work is being done for “the normalization of relations, which is a process that implies the opening of the border “, that reconstruction of broken ties it may take about two months.

Geraldine Garcia, EFE

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