The president of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, expressed on Monday his support for Venezuela’s entry into the Andean Community.
“Venezuela has asked to join the Andean Community. If we took that step, Colombia would be building its most important platform for economic progress after its own internal market. The two economies have to be integrated”, expressed Petro, after the activities to reopen the border between both nations, a fact registered this Monday.
He pointed out that the Andean Community is a source of economic and commercial benefits for Colombia, as well as stressing that both Venezuela and Chile want to be part of the system.
After the day, the Colombian president asserted that exchanges within the framework of globalization are carried out in greater quantity “between neighbors.”
“That’s how it was before sectarian madness took over hearts and brains,” Petro pointed out, quoted by the Week portal.
On the other hand, he pointed out that, after reopening the border; “There will be new tasks and problems to take on”, however, he highlighted the dialogue and respect between nations for their solution.
“There will undoubtedly be discussions, exchanges between the two governments and the two societies, but always in peace, always with the argument, always respecting the other. The self-determination of peoples is always an order of the Colombian Constitution. For all its rulers and citizens”, he emphasized.
Petro described before the press the closure of the borders as “a suicide that must not be repeated”.
A first truck crossed with a load of iron from Venezuela to Colombia at 12:35 local time (16:25 GMT) over the Simón Bolívar bridge, which connects the Venezuelan population of San Antonio del Táchira and the Colombian city of Cúcuta, decorated with a huge Venezuelan flag. on the hood and balloons above the cabin. Another crossed in the opposite direction 17 minutes later, also wearing the Colombian flag and the load covered by a green tarp.
respect for sovereignty
Asked about the relationship -in the political area- between Colombia and Venezuela, Petro emphasized that he respects the sovereignty of the nation.
“What happens in the political development of Venezuela, first of all, must be determined by the people of Venezuela, just as what happens to us in political matters must be freely determined by the Colombian people,” he said.
After seven years of closure, this Monday, economic and commercial relations between Colombia and Venezuela were restored after reopening the more than two thousand kilometers that exist between the two countries.
Previously, diplomatic relations had already been reestablished, with the designation of ambassadors for each of the countries.
