The Interior Minister Alfonso Pradaspoke about the reopening of the border with Venezuelawhich President Gustavo Petro announced, will be brought forward on September 26.
Prada said that it is a new beginning in the framework of bilateral relations and promised to continue working throughout the process of regulation of migrants from the neighboring country and for the respect of their rights as human beings.
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“Naturally, in the middle are the human beings, the Venezuelans who have arrived in Colombian territory, we will always have to apologize for the stigmatization and discrimination to which they have been subjected, but to claim that a new day begins with the opening of the border, with the revitalization of our relations on the border”he indicated.
He said that those Venezuelan citizens who decide to stay in Colombia must also get ahead through the opportunities that the Colombian State can offer them.
“Surely we recovered that status of human rights a lot to recover the possibility of arriving again in a calm, safe return to their state of origin, but to the extent that they said they would stay here, that the State be capable of offering them the alternatives for a dignified life that they deserve as compatriots of territory and history and culture and as human beings”, held.
“Maintain a rhythm of regulation of their legal situation and not treat them as illegal criminals but as compatriots who have the right to regularize their situation and to acquire fundamental rights like other Colombians, is the treatment and the route that this Government wants to give to the treatment of the issue”, he added.
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The decision to reopen the border was celebrated by various political sectors. Senator Alejandro Carlos Chacon, a native of Norte de Santander, said that this will boost the economy.
“We celebrate the opening of the border, it was time for the Government to take into account this economic need for Colombia and recover the second economy we had after the United States. The decision of the previous government not to have allowed the border areas to supply the needs was one of the greatest economic disasters we had on the border.We hope that we can improve conditions,” he said.
The normalization of diplomatic and commercial relations between Colombia and Venezuela is one of the primary objectives of the new ambassador to that country, Armando Benedetti.
