President of the Republic, Nicolás Maduro and the President of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, signed the Partial Scope Agreement of a Commercial Nature No. 28
The signing of this memorandum of understanding ratifies the reestablishment of diplomatic relations between Colombia and Venezuela.
President Maduro arrived this Thursday afternoon, accompanied by the first combatant, Cilia Flores and the Executive Vice President, Delcy Rodríguez, and by members of his Executive Cabinet. After arriving at the Santo Domingo airport, in the state of Táchira, they crossed the bridge, Atanasio Girardot, on the Colombian-Venezuelan border to Cúcuta, to meet with the New Granadan president, Gustavo Petro.
Our relations have been taking on a new dynamic in all aspects,
He recalled that they gave the order to open all the border crossings in the country to strengthen relations with Colombia.
“Our relations are setting a good pace, the signing of this trade agreement, which updates tariffs, products to exchange, priorities, laid the foundations for the expansion of binational trade.
However, he stressed that the Venezuela of today is very different from that of 2011 when the binational exchange agreement was signed. “We imported anything, we had an oil checkbook, we had 100 years with that dynamic, there were petrodollars to bring everything.”
The Venezuela of 2011 had net oil income of 56 billion dollars, an oil checkbook to take out and buy what had to be bought in the world, we imported 80% or 85% of everything, shoes, shirts, cars, onions, potatoes , meats, whatever.
“Today the situation is structurally different because Venezuela is subjected to a blockade regime, economic, commercial, financial persecution, illegal and immoral sanctions, which hit the structure, the backbone of national income, we went from 56 billion dollars in one year, to 700 million dollars the next year, and the year that ended we reached perhaps close to 5 billion dollars, barely 10% of what the country’s income was 4 or 6 years ago,” he said.
He explained that as a consequence of this situation, a plan for a war economy was designed, and actions were taken to create new systems, exchange, commercial, to stimulate national production.
He recalled that at the end of 2022 Venezuela achieved significant economic growth of 15% of GDP, “and for the first time in 100 years non-oil GDP grows more than oil GDP, a sign of recovery, although the body is still subjected to torture relentless from financial and commercial persecution, from sanctions, from the blockade, but the body shows signs of life, that it wants to live.”
Heading for the special economic zone
President Maduro, enthusiastic about the commercial growth between the two countries, commented on the proposal of Governor Freddy Bernal, enthusiastic promoter of Norte de Santander, who according to Maduro is the promoter of the idea of a binational economic zone of common development between the North of Santander and Táchira, “and I believe that this agreement creates the bases for us to take steps in that direction,” concluded the Venezuelan president.
In this way, he proposed this Thursday to form a team together with the mayors and governors of the region, to accelerate the creation of a binational economic zone.
Maduro assured that the monetary problem between Norte de Santander and Táchira has already been resolved. “There is only one currency for commercial activity, one of the things that we learned walking, marching, receiving the blows of criminal sanctions, is that a war economy model is a multi-currency model.
“I think we should take numbers, so that we can begin to project and devise what would perhaps be a gigantic historical step, the creation of that Binational Economic Zone of Shared Development between Norte de Santander and Táchira,” Maduro insisted on Petro. “It would be the first step to unite the immense wealth and the immense economic strength that the Colombian and Venezuelan border has,” he said.
Below is the complete text of the Partial Scope Agreement of a Commercial Nature No. 28 between Colombia and Venezuela
- Total opening of the border for the integration between Colombia and Venezuela that achieves a consistent political, institutional and social framework.
- Presidents Nicolás Maduro Moros and Gustavo Petro Urrego, have managed in six months to rebuild the historic relations of brotherhood and cooperation between our peoples, overcoming almost seven years of darkness and absence of diplomatic, economic, commercial and social relations.
- In just 3 months, the Partial Scope Agreement AAP No. 28 that defines commercial relations was updated. On the other hand, for the first time an Investment Protection and Promotion Treaty was signed between the two countries.
4. The foregoing events strengthen not only our commercial and investment relations, but the most essential: institutionality and legal security for our economic and social agents.
5. For the Colombian-Venezuelan border, the agreements reached will mean the closing of the social gap that had deepened in terms of poverty, unemployment and income, and fundamentally they will promote in an accelerated manner the productive complementation and services, the creation of employment, and a greater social security for binational citizens in a context of social justice and promotion of peace.
6. We continue paving the way for the installation of a binational economic zone, which will give impetus to the great productive capacities of the border region.
7. We are more committed than ever to overcome and leave behind the adversities derived from interests unrelated to the well-being of our peoples, to open space for the place that history has reserved for Colombia and Venezuela, and for the happiness of our peoples.
