The governor of the state of Táchira, Freddy Bernal, expressed his support for the declarations of the Colombian president, Gustavo Petro regarding the closure of the existing trails on the Colombian-Venezuelan border, as part of the binational plan to boost trade and eliminate smuggling.
The president stressed that from the Venezuelan territory “everything possible will be done to coordinate jointly between the Colombian authorities and the Venezuelan authorities” to support this initiative that will benefit the “border liveliest in Latin America.
“On our side here we have more than 2,000,000 men along the 164 kilometers of the border and more than 21 posts of the Bolivarian National Army, then there is the National Guard and then there are the police forces,” he asserted.
Bernal reiterated that prior to the opening of the border and the reactivation of commercial exchange on September 26, the Venezuelan State has increased its actions on the trails, which, so far, have generated a series of arrests in addition to the confiscation of various types of products.
“So far, more than 150 tons of food have been seized (…) a truck with more than 100 wheelchairs has been seized, a truck with 1,500 units of cheese has been seized, drugs have been seized by the Bolivarian National Guard and more than 1,500 tons of strategic material has been seized,” he said.
shared responsibility
Bernal insisted on the irregular groups that make life in Colombia and urged that a joint plan should be worked on that gives optimal results for the border axis.
“On the other side of there, Los Rastrojos, Los Urabeños, the Gulf Cartel, the Aragua Train, La Línea, El Paisa (…) unfortunately the Colombian State does not have control of its border, that is why we join this exhortation made by President Petro, we support him,” he clarified.
He stressed that in conversations with President Nicolás Maduro and the Vice President of the Republic, he has recommended “the need for a binational meeting between both governors and the military and police authorities of Norte de Santander and the state of Táchira that allows an articulation» with which a plan is established.
“The border problem is like dancing bolero, it takes two (…) for years there has only been one actor, who has been Venezuela, now the Colombian actor is missing,” he asserted.
He indicated that this initiative of the Colombian government represents the commitment to improve the border situation, “finally Colombia has a president who takes care of the border (…) because all the governments: Iván Duque, Santos, Uribe and backwards they always left the border».
The governor of Táchira asserted that security actions in the entity have intensified under the premise of controlling products that arrive without authorization to be marketed.
“We have given the order that everything that passes illegally will be considered contraband, people will be detained and put at the order of the competent courts and the merchandise at the order of the prosecution,” he said.
