Venezuela and Colombia prepare for border commercial reopening

Hundreds of people crossed on foot the crossings between Venezuela and Colombia, as usual, on the eve of the commercial reopening of the binational border, which will be celebrated with a symbolic first step of cargo vehicles.

Trucks will pass through the main border crossing, the Simón Bolívar bridge, which connects the towns of San Antonio in Venezuela and Cúcuta in Colombia, in an act that will mark the starting point for the full restoration of commercial transport after seven years of restrictions and three of closure.

Rossana Morales, a 34-year-old merchant, celebrates the moment, since the closing "affected everything" in towns near the border, he said as he passed the Simón Bolívar bridge with his family, returning to the Venezuelan state of Táchira after buying food and medicine from the Colombian side.

The passage of cargo vehicles was restricted in 2015 and completely blocked in 2019, when the government of Iván Duque recognized opposition leader Juan Guaidó as "president in charge" of Venezuela for questioning the re-election of Nicolás Maduro. Border crossings were restricted to pedestrian crossings only.

commercial exchange, which reached almost 7,200 million dollars in 2008, collapsed with the closure of the border. The private Colombo-Venezuelan Chamber of Integration handles projections of 800 million to 1,200 million dollars for this year.