Maduro announces the date of the opening of the border between Venezuela and Colombia

Venezuela and Colombia will reopen their borders and resume direct flights from September 26, announced Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.

“I am thrilled to announce that as of September 26, we will jointly open the borders between Venezuela and Colombia. In addition, we will resume flights between Caracas – Bogotá, and Valencia – Bogotá. The exchange and cooperation between our peoples restart on the right foot,” Maduro expressed through his Twitter account.

Read also: Check out our coverage on Venezuela.

For his part, Colombian President Gustavo Petro confirmed this information.
“On September 26, we will open the border between Colombia and Venezuela. The air connection and cargo transport between our countries will resume as a first step. We confirm the government’s commitment to reestablish brotherly relations,” Petro wrote on his Twitter account.

According to the Colombian Ministry of Commerce, the projections for the reestablishment of bilateral relations are that they would generate a commercial exchange of US$1 billion in the remainder of the year.

The goal of the National Government for the next four years is to recover Colombia’s transactional movement with Venezuela 10 years ago, a figure that exceeded US$8 billion.

The commercial, diplomatic, and transport reopening protocols will be led by the Colombian ambassador to Venezuela, Armando Benedetti, and his Venezuelan counterpart in Colombia, Félix Plasencia.

The border between Colombia and Venezuela has been closed for more than 2,200 kilometers for seven years.

Meanwhile, flights have been suspended since March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Caracas and Bogotá resumed diplomatic relations on August 7, after the election of Gustavo Petro (left), and as a first step, they appointed their ambassadors to these countries.

According to the Colombian ambassador to Venezuela, Armando Benedetti, the meeting between Maduro and Petro could occur in October.

Caracas broke off diplomatic relations with Bogotá in February 2019 after the opposition led by Venezuelan politician Juan Guaidó tried to bring alleged humanitarian aid across the border, which the Maduro government described as an invasion attempt.