Colombia and Venezuela will resume commercial flights as of September 26, the date on which the passage of vehicles on the land border that unites both countries will also be reopened, the Colombian ambassador in Caracas, Armando Benedetti, confirmed on Tuesday.
Through Twitter, the diplomat explained that the Venezuelan Minister of Transport, Ramón Velásquez, and his Colombian counterpart, Guillermo Reyes, held a virtual meeting “to accelerate the normalization of flights”, suspended since March 2020 in the midst of the covid-19 pandemic.
“Open skies between Venezuela and Colombia after a Zoom meeting between the ministers (…) September 26 the first (of the flights) leaves,” continued Benedetti, who shared photographs of the meeting in which he also participated.
The reactivation of flights It coincides with the reopening of the border, which will take place on the 26th, when, after seven years, the binational passage of vehicles will be allowed again, by joint decision of the leaders of Colombia and Venezuela, Gustavo Petro and Nicolás Maduro, respectively. .
The Colombian Foreign Ministry indicated, earlier, on the same social network, that this Tuesday the sessions “of sectoral and territorial technical tables” were continuing, to address the issue of reestablishing relations with Venezuela, broken since January 2019.
Today’s meeting, specified the Colombian diplomacy, “addressed transportation and mobility issues.”
Marine transport
In another meeting the Minister for Transport, Ramon Velasquezspoke in a videoconference with his Colombian counterpart, Guillermo Reyes, in order to fine-tune strategies in maritime connections.
At the meeting, a roadmap was defined that will allow the border to be reopened, “through land mode.”
For this, informed the Minister of Transportation of Colombia, Guillermo Reyes, technical tables will be held to define the routes that would be in service on September 26.
“We will carry out technical tables that allow us to define the airlines and the routes that would enter service, in addition to the land issues that are relevant for vehicular traffic between the two countries. We are the #Government of the People, which works for the Colombian people!” Reyes wrote on the social network.
This step is part of the reestablishment of relations between the two countries, after four years of interruption due to the support of the previous New Granadan government of Iván Duque, to destabilize Venezuela and assassinate President Maduro.