Colombia, Venezuela announce reopening of cargo transport, flights

Colombia, Venezuela announce reopening of cargo transport, flights

Colombia and Venezuela will reopen flights and cargo transport across their border on Sept. 26, presidents of both countries said on Friday, the most important step yet in a process of normalizing relations after years of tension. Caracas broke off relations with Bogota in 2019 after Venezuelan opposition activists tried to enter the country from Colombia with trucks of food and medical aid. Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's government said it was a front for an attempted coup supported by Washington.

The border is currently open to pedestrians, with many Venezuelans crossing into Colombia to buy basic goods. Previous governments in Bogota have accused Maduro of harboring Colombian terrorists and criminals, accusations the Venezuelan president has denied.

But new Colombian President Gustavo Petro, who took office in August, promised to reopen trade along the 2,219-kilometer (1,380-mile) border. Each country now has an ambassador in place, though Petro pushed back at a request by Maduro's government to extradite Venezuelan opposition figures.

"On Sept. 26 we will open the border between Colombia and Venezuela. As a first step, we will restart flight connections and cargo transport between our two countries. We affirm the government's commitment to reestablish brotherly relations," Petro said on Twitter. Maduro echoed praise for cooperation in his own tweet, saying there would be a "joint reopening" of the border.

"Also, we will restart Caracas-Bogota and Valencia-Bogota flights," he said. It was not immediately clear if the flights referred to cargo or passenger travel.

Cargo transport is currently only allowed through one crossing point along the border, which has dozens of irregular crossings and is home to fuel and food smuggling, as well as drug trafficking. Some two million Venezuelan migrants live in the neighboring country and were granted legal status en masse under a policy announced in 2021.

Trade between the two countries could total more than $600 million this year, the Colombian government has said. It totalled $7 billion in 2008, before Venezuela's then-president Hugo Chavez froze it in protest at a military deal between Bogota and Washington.

Colombia, Venezuela announce reopening of cargo transport, flights
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