Caracas had broken his diplomatic relations with Bogota in February 2019, when the right -wing Colombian president Ivan Duque had not recognized the re -election of Nicolas Maduro.
Le Monde with AFP
Venezuela and Colombia have formally returned to their diplomatic relations, broken for three years, with the arrival in Caracas on Sunday August 29 of the Colombian ambassador appointed by the new president Gustavo Petro. “Relations with Venezuela should never have been broken, we are brothers and an imaginary line cannot separate us,” tweeted the ambassador Armando Benedetti.
According to the diplomat, more than 8 million Colombians live from bilateral trade with Venezuela. One of the objectives of this resumption of relations is to restore trade relations between the two countries. Venezuela and Colombia had announced on August 11 their intention to exchange ambassadors.
In addition to the exchange of ambassadors, the standardization process provides for the complete reopening of the border of more than 2,000 km which separates the two countries , Totally closed to vehicles since 2015 and has only reopened to pedestrians since the end of 2021. Caracas and Bogota also intend to restore their military relations.
The Colombo-Venezuelan Chamber of Commerce provides for trade of 800 million to $ 1.2 billion in 2022, after reaching around $ 400 million the previous year.
Caracas had broken his diplomatic relations with Bogota in February 2019, when right -wing Colombian President Ivan Duque had not recognized the re -election of Nicolas Maduro and had supported the proclamation of the opposition chief Juan Guaido as interim president .