Freddy Bernal, governor of the state of Táchira, assured that Venezuela has been ready for more than a year to reopen the commercial border, but, he said, it is Colombia who refuses a total opening.
During an interview for the show On time from Radio UnionBernal pointed out that an opportunity met with the commercial, customs and hotel sector of Norte de Santander and with businessmen from Venezuela.
At the meeting, a schedule was agreed for the total opening of the border that began with the crossing for the children of the border communities who study in Cúcuta, then with the pedestrian crossing, but the commercial and consular opening was pending.
“When the commercial opening was going to proceed, Iván Duque refused, as long as President Nicolás Maduro was the president of Venezuela,” he said.
Bernal affirmed that both Colombian and Venezuelan businessmen are ready to reopen the commercial border, because each region depends on the other. “The day that the first service truck passes from one place to another, part of Táchira’s economy is reactivated,” he said.
Regarding the issue of the shortage of gasoline in the entity, he assured that at the moment it is quite controlled. “It is not 100% efficient, but it is quite controlled, we had supply problems a month and a half ago, but it has been resolved for about three weeks,” he said.
“Right now in Táchira there are no queues, there is free and easy access to gasoline,” he added.
Bernal indicated that the problem of fuel smuggling on the border continues and will probably continue due to the fact that there are many irregular crossings, however, he affirmed that this has been reduced by 90%.
