This is the last article you can read this month
You can read more article this month
You can read more articles this month
Sorry your limit is up for this month
Reset on:
Please help support the Morning Star by subscribing here
COLOMBIA and Venezuela reopened a key bridge linking the countries that had been closed for almost seven years amid political tensions.
The opening follows improved relations between the two countries after the election of Gustavo Petro as the president of Colombia last year.
Delegations led by Colombian Trade Minister German Umana and the governor of Venezuela’s Tachira state, Freddy Bernal, met in the middle of the “Tienditas” bridge which links Tachira and Colombia’s Norte de Santander state for the opening ceremony.
Mr Bernal said: “From today, all the border crossings are open for transport.”
He added that the political will existed to continue improving relations between the neighbours.
Construction of the bridge ended in 2016, but it was never inaugurated because of tensions linked to Colombia’s support for US-sponsored regime change operations in its neighbour.
The bridge, which cost more than $32 million (£25m) to build, was designed to ease congestion on the two other binational bridges in the area and facilitate trade.
In 2019, Venezuela’s socialist President Nicolas Maduro ordered the blockade of the bridge after Colombia’s then president, Ivan Duque, had called Mr Maduro a “dictator” and recognised opposition leader Juan Guaido as Venezuela's interim president.
