Colombia and Venezuela have agreed to open the passage of vehicles from all borders for 30 days

After the summit between the President of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, and the head of the Venezuelan regime, Nicolás Maduro, it was agreed open all borders between the two countries for 30 days. In accordance with this decision, the measure will initially apply to the Simón Bolívar and Francisco de Paula Santander international bridges.

The authorities affirmed Thursday February 16 that it would be a pilot test and that during this time they will be able to mobilize private and public service vehicles. The measure will come into effect from the night of February 16 so that, from the early hours of Thursday 17, the entire fleet will circulate on both sides of the border.

The determination is part of the signing of the Commercial Partial Scope Agreement #28, which deepens the legal framework that allows the strengthening of integration for commercial development between the two countries. According to President Petro, trade relations between the two countries should not have been closed, so the signing of this document consolidates a new stage in the integration of Colombia and Venezuela, as well as the rest of the Latin America.

For his part, the head of the Venezuelan regime proposed to the Colombian head of state the creation of an economic team made up of the governors of Norte de Santander and Táchira which would allow the installation of an economic zone. It would be “the first big step to unite the immense wealth and economic strength of the Colombia-Venezuela border”, he said.

The said “Commercial Partial Scope Agreement #28establishes, firstly, the inclusion and exclusion of products, and the modification of the levels of preferences granted. In this respect, he determines three points concerning the modification of the paragraphs established above.

The first is the inclusion of “products with their Tariff nomenclature and grant them preferential treatment”; the second is the exclusion of products and the third, “modifying the tariff preference levels” granted to certain products.

To that extent, this deal updates both tariffs and commodities to be traded across border bridges, and opens the doors to what Maduro called a “new expansion dynamicbetween the trade of Colombia and Venezuela. He recalled that this country had better conditions in 2011, when this agreement was signed for the first time.

In this regard, he recalled that that year the country had “net oil revenues of $56 billion; an oil checkbook to go out and buy what needed to be bought in the world” and that up to 85% of all kinds of goods like clothes, cars and food were imported.

He even claimed that the neighboring country is subject to a regime, but of “blockade and economic and commercial persecution” which has seriously affected the income of this country, to the point of having to devise a “war economy” plan, which, according to his speech, has generated good performances in recent years.

For his part, President Petro affirmed that the commercial border bridges must be bridged, and although he said that customs agreements have been established and that the partial agreement was signed on Monday February 16, “it much remains to be done. “

“It’s not about these bridges being filled only with commerce, but with people who can come and go…people from small capitals. Democracy means people can live without fear,” the official said. Colombian president about the need for small and medium traders to make their transactions in these stages.