With the cleaning and a new coat of paint of the Simón Bolívar bridge and its surroundings, all the last details are fine-tuned so that this Monday the commercial and border relationship between Colombia and Venezuela will be resumed. It has been seven years of a rupture that has intensified since 2019, but now opens a new chapter.
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This Monday, September 26, 10 cargo trucks will cross the border. Five Colombians and five Venezuelans. Colombians will transport food and medicine, while those leaving Venezuela will carry raw materials. Both merchandise will be paid once the products are sold at the final destination, this to encourage lost trust.
“The dream is to have the most active border in Latin America again,” Juan Carlos Palencia, deputy of the Venezuelan National Assembly, told EL TIEMPO, who assured that there are still many interests to keep the relationship between the two countries fracturednot only political interests, but also economic and illegal ones, although without pointing the fingers at anyone.
(Also: Venezuela asks Colombia to investigate former directors of Monómeros)
In addition, Palencia details that in Cúcuta there are 587 Venezuelans in a situation of indigence, 1,200 Venezuelans in prisons in Norte de Santander and more than 3,500 kidney and oncology patients who live in Táchira and go to Colombia, sectors of the population that require attention.
The dream is to have the most active border in Latin America again
Another issue that has generated concern is the regularization of merchants stationed at La Parada. Sales to the Venezuelan side have been good, but outside the legal and customs framework. And now they must be framed in the law.
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“This creates uncertainty because they tell us: now what are we going to do? They want to continue selling, but it must be legal, we have told them that they must adapt to the Dian and Seniat regulations,” said Palencia.
Colombian and Venezuelan authorities were present at the binational meeting on September 22, including the Venezuelan ambassador to Colombia, Félix Plasencia. According to sources linked to the meeting, Customs and commercial adaptation issues were discussed, in addition to fine-tuning details for this September 26.
(Also read: Meeting of parliamentarians on the border with Venezuela was suspended)
In Táchira, the population is quite enthusiastic. There is talk of a generation of 10,000 direct jobs in the short term, and it is even said that Venezuelan banking agencies are already looking for offices to resume operations.
Entrepreneurs from Ureña also feel a little motivation, since most of them went bankrupt. The 7,000 million dollars that the commercial exchange generated at the time has been reduced to about 200 million, at least so far this year.
It has not yet been determined whether pedestrians will be asked for the border card, requirement that was requested by Colombia after the rupture of relations, but that was left in disuse due to border dynamics. More than 1,000 people cross daily and it was impossible for the Colombian agents to scan all the documents in a reasonable time.
(Also: Benedetti announces arrival of ship with urea to Barranquilla from Venezuela)
Despite these advances, there is also caution. For example, the tourism sector also wants to activate through land routes to Colombia, but talks are still underway.
A meeting was scheduled for this Sunday between Venezuelan parliamentarians and Colombian congressmen that would lead to the opening tomorrow. However, it was suspended due to security issues and will be held in later days. There, issues of legal regulations and agreements for the maintenance and implementation of relations would be discussed.
For its part, Nicolás Maduro has said that it will be a “happy opening” of the border and has asked Venezuelan businessmen to be competitive in order to take advantage of the market and offer quality products, such as rubber.
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The truth is that this Monday begins a new period of relations with the epicenter on the border and with the expectation that broadening the spectrum of relations towards the aviation area and other sectors.
The Colombian Minister of Transport, Guillermo Reyes, also said during his visit to Caracas that the ports were open for this type of exchange. On Friday, the Colombian ambassador in Caracas, Armando Benedetti, reported on his Twitter account that he was arriving in Barranquilla the first ship from Venezuela loaded with 16,000 tons of ureadelivered to Monómeros and with a price of 600 dollars per ton, when in the market it exceeded 700 dollars.
(Also read: UN accuses Maduro and intelligence chiefs of crimes against humanity)
For critics in Venezuela, this decision affects the country for not receiving resources, for others it was to be celebrated because it was a sign of how the country can once again be a supplier of petrochemical products for Colombia.
ANA RODRIGUEZ BRAZON
WEATHER CORRESPONDENT
CARACAS
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