Nastassja Rojas Silva, political scientist and internationalist, researcher at the School of Government of the Universidad de los Andes, spoke on Caracol Radio’s 6AM Hoy por Hoy about the reestablishment of relations between Colombia and Venezuela after the new ambassadors of both countries were announced.
The determination of the new government of Gustavo Petro in re-establishing relations with Venezuela has raised certain doubts in public opinion about how this process would be carried out
The internationalist expert mentions that reestablishing relations between the two countries It doesn’t happen in quick steps She explains that first the conditions of the consulates do not allow the process to be quick, and that also after the appointment -of the ambassadors- credentials have to be sent and they must be accepted by both parties.
Additionally, he referred to the possibility that the two leaders of Colombia and Venezuela coordinate a personal meeting, Rojas pointed out that this fact could take a little longer.
“President Gustavo Petro has been very cautious when referring to the reestablishment of relations with Venezuela, and with Venezuelan citizens, but he has avoided directly naming Nicolás Maduro in his speech,” the political scientist specified.
Facing the issue that worries many about the normalization of border crossings, Nastassja Rojas mentioned that “We are not very clear what this reopening is going to refer to, taking into account that Colombia does not have closed borders and that most of the restrictions come from Venezuela”.
“For this they first need the reestablishment of consular relations that are establishing as a priority, and this may take at least a month to see the first advances in practice,” Rojas emphasized.
According to the expert, what is fundamental and a priority is to reestablish consular relations that allow, if required, that the State can provide help and protection to citizens.
“A Venezuelan citizen has no way of accessing his identification document when you are out of the country, You do not have a consular record that allows you to request protection in the event of an emergency. There is an absolute abandonment of the Venezuelan population in Colombia,” the internationalist pointed out.
