This is the first meeting of Venezuelan and Colombian ministers since the common border, whose commercial and air reopening is expected on Monday, September 26. Minister Iván Velásquez said that the meeting with Vladimir Padrino López “will mark the beginning of relations between the Defense Ministries and the military forces, of great benefit to the region and to the entire border.” Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has not reported whether he will attend the events, while the participation of President Gustavo Petro is also in the offing.
The Minister of Defense, Vladimir Padrino López, and his Colombian counterpart, Iván Velásquez, agreed this Saturday 24 to set up binational working groups to address various security issues, in view of the reopening of the common border, scheduled for this September 26 .
“We have agreed to set up technical work tables (and) make a roadmap because now the issues are coming, but in large quantities,” Padrino López told reporters at the end of the meeting in the Venezuelan city of San Antonio. , Near the border.
The general described the meeting as “harmonious, productive and fruitful”, and announced that it is “the first of many that are going to happen”.
? Photos|| The bilateral meeting between the Sectoral Vice President of Political Sovereignty, Security and Peace and the Minister of Defense GJ advances @vladimirpadrino with the Colombian Minister of Defense @Ivan_Velasquez_ in detachment 212 of the GNB, in San Antonio del Tachira. pic.twitter.com/xToBSr4vOE
— VPSSPSP_VE (@VPSSPSP) September 24, 2022
“We agree that the first thing is to establish communication (…) we cannot continue (without talking) on a border as lively as ours, as extensive as ours, where incidents of all kinds occur permanently,” he said.
For his part, Minister Velásquez said that the meeting, which he attended with several deputy ministers, “will mark the beginning of relations between the Defense Ministries and the military forces, of great benefit to the region and to the entire border.”
“We define the first steps that we must take, the establishment of a technical table, in which (…) they begin to define the first steps and a schedule that will finally lead to the full restoration of military relations between the two countries,” he said.
The Colombian celebrated the “cordial” nature of the meeting and reiterated that it was agreed to immediately establish a military dialogue channel from next Monday, to jointly attend to eventualities that occur from that day, when vehicles will again travel through the border areas, something that has not happened since 2015.
Earlier, Padrino López toured the Simón Bolívar international bridge and praised the efforts being made by both countries to fully resume diplomatic and commercial relations, suspended since 2019.
Good morning Venezuela! From the “Simón Bolívar” International Bridge we say to our people: Good news is coming for the Great Homeland! pic.twitter.com/qV5gfbMePG
– Vladimir Padrino L. (@vladimirpadrino) September 24, 2022
This is the first meeting of Venezuelan and Colombian authorities since the common border, whose commercial and air reopening is expected on Monday, September 26. Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has not reported whether he will attend the events, while the participation of President Gustavo Petro is also in the offing.
On Friday the 23rd it was announced suspension of a binational meeting between parliamentarians from Venezuela and Colombia, due to “logistical reasons”, as explained in a statement by the National Assembly elected in 2020, with an official majority.
“Given the need to guarantee to the maximum the logistical matters and the security devices that are involved in view of the high government to the city of Cúcuta, the deferral of the first binational meeting of legislative bodies was decided,” says part of the statement posted on Instagram.
The common border between the two countries, 2,219 kilometers long, was closed in August 2015 when Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro expelled more than 20,000 Colombians from that area under the pretext of an operation against organized crime.
With information from EFE
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