Published on : 09/09/2022 – 19:30
Caracas (AFP) – Suspended for 5 years, commercial flights between Venezuela and Colombia will resume on September 26, the presidents of the two countries, Nicolas Maduro and Gustavo Petro, announced on Friday, a decision that is part of the normalization of bilateral relations, broken in 2019.
On September 26, “we will jointly open the borders between Venezuela and Colombia. In addition, we will resume flights between Caracas-Bogota and Valencia-Bogota,” Maduro said on Twitter.
“On September 26, we will open the border between Colombia and Venezuela. Initially, air links and the transport of goods between our countries will resume. We confirm the government’s commitment to restore fraternal relations,” tweeted Ms. Petro.
The two countries formally resumed their bilateral relations on Monday, August 29 with the arrival in Caracas of Colombian Ambassador Armando Benedetti, as well as the arrival in Bogota of former Venezuelan Foreign Minister Felix Plasencia, appointed Ambassador.
The airline Avianca, which covered more than 50% of Caracas-Bogota flights, suspended operations to and from Venezuela in July 2017 to “maintain safety” in the face of “operational limitations”. Other companies that provided this connection had also suspended their flights.
The exodus of international airlines from Caracas, began in 2014, when oil prices – the source of 96% of the country’s currency – began to crash.
According to the International Air Transport Association (IATA), Caracas has racked up $3.8 billion in debt to airlines, most of which have stopped operating in Venezuela. Consequence: it was now necessary to go through Panama or Mexico to reach Bogota from Caracas.
Venezuela severed ties with Colombia in 2019 in retaliation for former president Ivan Duque’s (right-wing conservative) support for Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido.
The election of Gustavo Petro, Colombia’s first left-wing president, changed the situation with a strong desire to normalize relations. Caracas and Bogotá hope in particular to revive trade, which reached 7.2 billion dollars in 2008 but collapsed with the partial closure of the border in 2015 and its total closure in 2019.
The passage of cargo vehicles has been restricted since 2015, following Mr Maduro denounced an ambush by armed groups of a Venezuelan military patrol in the western state of Tachira, where the most important crossing point between the two is located. country.
In 2019, the border was completely blocked, amid unrest, with Juan Guaido’s failed attempt to smuggle food and medical supplies from the United States into Venezuela.
Venezuela and Colombia share a 2,200 kilometer border which is often insecure with the presence of irregular groups and guerrillas as well as mafias engaged in smuggling and other crimes.
© 2022 AFP
