The president of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, and his Colombian counterpart, Gustavo Petro, signed a partial commercial agreement on Thursday during a meeting held at the Atanasio Girardot International Bridge, better known as 'Tienditas'.

The president of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, and his Colombian counterpart, Gustavo Petro, signed a partial commercial agreement on Thursday during a meeting held at the Atanasio Girardot International Bridge, better known as "Tienditas", an important vehicular and pedestrian border crossing that It communicates by land the Venezuelan state of Táchira with the Colombian Norte de Santander.

After the signing of the new agreement between Caracas and Bogotá, President

Petro stressed that this agreement "is one more step" for the integration of both countries, which, in his opinion, "should never have been suspended"

, referring to the years they were Relations with Venezuela were broken during the government of his predecessor, Iván Duque (2018-2022).

Petro pointed out that Venezuela and Colombia cannot continue fighting, because

they are two "brother peoples" and that is evidenced in the cultural connections

, the dances, the drums and the aesthetics, which show the "same roots" that their people have built over the years. throughout its history.

“What happened in the immediate past must not happen.

What was built on these trails, where people passed from one side to the other, a systematic violation of human rights against women, sexual abuse, the handing over of this line (border) to the mafia, to organizations that, degraded in the conflict in the illegal economies, they took control of this line, it cannot happen again, here there must be legality”, stressed the Colombian president.

Likewise, Petro urged his Venezuelan counterpart to "fill" the "trade" bridges and "remove the barriers" that may still exist between Colombia and Venezuela in that important area of ​​the binational economy.

In addition, he added that the importance of the bridges being open is that beyond the fact that capital can use the crossing for its commercial interests, ordinary people can also take advantage of this connection, "without barriers."

Maduro: A new dynamic

For his part, President

Maduro stressed that relations between Colombia and Venezuela are taking on "a new dynamic" in the political, economic, commercial and population spheres.

"

It is very significant that we are traveling the path of reunion

, of reunification, of reunification between two peoples that are forever marked by providence and by coexistence as brothers," said Maduro.

The Venezuelan president recalled that, since January 1, both governments decided to open all border crossings, which he considered "a very important step", necessary and "inevitable", which has favored the peoples of the two nations. .

“We are in a new phase of building relationships in all senses, in the entire line of action.

And our economic and commercial relations, although they have not reached the dimension of what our aspirations are, they are setting a good pace and a good dynamic," Maduro said.

In addition, he pointed out that the signing of this trade agreement, "which updates everything that has to do with tariffs, the products to be exchanged, the priorities, lays the foundations

for a new dynamic of

trade expansion between Colombia and Venezuela

," taking Bear in mind that the current Venezuelan economic model is “very different” from that of 2011, when the country was clearly dependent on oil rents.

The Venezuelan president took advantage of the meeting to resume the idea of ​​creating a binational economic zone of common development

between Norte de Santander and Táchira

on the border .

“I think this agreement creates the foundation for us to take steps in that direction,” he said.

Maduro also proposed to Petro to talk about this project and install an economic team, where governors and mayors of the border area participate, so that they begin to study "what would be a gigantic historical step" to unite the "immense economic force" that the Colombian-Venezuelan border.

a symbolic place

The 'Tienditas' bridge, which has three canals, is a symbolic place because it remained closed for years after the Duque government in Colombia decided to support an attempted invasion by land against Venezuelan territory.

The situation led Caracas to place several containers on the bridge to avoid the vehicular crossing from Colombia and thus evade possible acts of violence.

Moments before the historic meeting, the Colombian ambassador to Venezuela, Armando Benedetti, published a photo in which they appear walking across the bridge and accompanying the Venezuelan delegation made up of Maduro;

the first lady, Cilia Flores;

the vice president, Delcy Rodriguez;

the governor of Táchira, Freddy Bernal;

the Minister of the Interior, Remigio Ceballos;

among other officials.

Previous meetings

This is the third meeting between Petro and Maduro, since the Colombian president took office in August last year.

The first appointment was on November 1 at the Miraflores Palace, seat of the Venezuelan Executive, in Caracas;

Subsequently, the leaders met again at the beginning of January in the same place.

On that last opportunity, they issued a joint declaration in which they celebrated "the good relations and permanent communication between the two nations for the achievement of common objectives."

In addition, they made known the issues discussed, including the opening of borders, trade and binational agreements.

Later, at the end of January, the first lady of Colombia, Verónica Alcocer García, and her counterpart from Venezuela, Cilia Flores, held a bilateral meeting in Caracas.

Then, at the beginning of February, both governments signed an agreement for the promotion and reciprocal protection of investments, as part of the new stage of full relations undertaken by the two nations.

That day, President Maduro announced that in a few days they could finalize a new binational agreement in the commercial area.

The text was signed by President Maduro, and the Colombian Minister of Commerce, Industry and Tourism, Germán Umaña, in an act held at the Miraflores Palace.

Relations between Colombia and Venezuela have improved significantly since Petro came to power.

This allowed both countries to reopen their border crossings on September 26, 2022, which had been closed to vehicular and commercial transport since 2015.

(Taken from RT in Spanish)  

In video, details of the meeting