Border trade between Colombia and Venezuela will not reopen on Friday

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL –  The reopening of the border between Colombia and Venezuela will not materialize this Friday, October 8, according to the designated guardian for the Venezuelan state of Táchira, Freddy Bernal, who said that there is a lack of “coordination” between the two countries’ authorities.

Caracas last Monday announced the reopening of trade on the border with Colombia, exchanges that will have to be conducted under “strict biosafety measures,” in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic.

However, “for the commercial reopening to take place, Venezuelan and Colombian authorities will have to reach an agreement,” Bernal said. “We were willing to start the trade flow this Friday, but as far as I can see it is not going to be possible because there has to be coordination,” he added.

The candidate for governor of Táchira said that he has held “low profile meetings with Colombian authorities for 2 years, until President (Iván) Duque authorized formal meetings.” That is when an agreement was reached, he said.

Duque had advised this week that the reopening would not be “sudden.” The border was officially reopened on Tuesday, although the situation at the Francisco de Paula Santander and Simon Bolivar international bridges, which connect the two countries, does not seem to have been different from other days, since only the so-called humanitarian corridor has been allowed passage from Venezuela.

As a result, people have been allowed to cross, but trade has been hindered despite Caracas’ announcement, as denounced by the media and Táchira governor Laidy Gómez, who opposes Nicolás Maduro’s government.

The border between Colombia and Venezuela has been closed since 2019, when Colombia endorsed the Venezuelan opposition led by Juan Guaidó in an attempt to bring “humanitarian aid” to the other side of the border, something that President Nicolás Maduro rejected.

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