Colombia and Venezuela Presidents Meet, Sign Deal to Revive Trade

Colombia President Gustavo Petro and Venezuela President Nicolas Maduro inked an agreement on Thursday to renew trade between their countries during a ceremony held on a border bridge.

This agreement updates everything having to do with tariffs, with commodities sold and establishes the foundations for a new dynamic, for the increase of trade between Colombia and Venezuela," Nicolas Maduro said at the ceremony, which was aired on Venezuelan state television.

After Petro was sworn in as president in August 2022 in Bogota, he promised during his campaign to improve diplomatic ties with the government in Caracas, which began in September 2022, according to Reuters.

"We have to fill these bridges with trade," Gustavo Petro said, warning that "there is lots still to do because it is not a question of whether these bridges are filled with trade but rather than they are filled with people."

The president of Colombia stated that mafia groups involved in warfare and illegal enterprises make the border their territory along the roughly 2,200-kilometer border between the two nations.

Venezuela Serves as Guarantor Between ELN Rebels and Colombia

Gustavo Petro and Nicolas Maduro met in Caracas in January to talk about trade and the ongoing peace talks between Colombia and the National Liberation Army (ELN) rebel organization.

The first round of recently resumed negotiations between Colombia and the rebel organization took place in Caracas last year, with Venezuela serving as a guarantor for the peace talks with the ELN, per the U.S. News.

Meanwhile, Carlos Eduardo Martinez, a former general, has been appointed as Venezuela's ambassador to Colombia, according to the National Assembly, which is under the leadership of the country's ruling Socialist Party.

Caracas severed ties with Bogota when Venezuelan opposition activists attempted to deploy aid trucks from Colombia in 2019, which the Maduro administration claimed was a cover for a coup attempt.

Previous governments have accused Maduro in Bogota of providing a haven to Colombian rebel groups and criminals, something he has consistently denied.

Colombia and Venezuela Diplomatic Relations

Due to political unrest frequently resulting in border closures, trade between Colombia and Venezuela declined significantly after 2015, AP reports.

The election of Colombia's first leftist president has improved diplomatic relations between the two countries, which has led to the latest deal.

It has been seven years since Colombia and Venezuela allowed commercial freight trucks to cross their border via these bridges.

"This is not only about making trade easier but also about making it easier for people to move between both countries," Gustavo Petro said. "There has to be legality here so that the rights of people are protected."

Last year, after Gustavo Petro was elected president of Colombia, diplomatic ties between the two countries were reestablished.

Petro has distanced itself from initiatives spearheaded by the United States to isolate Venezuela's dictatorial regime and acknowledged Nicolas Maduro as the country's rightful leader.

Colombia's new president has requested Venezuela to help negotiate a ceasefire with the National Liberation Army, a rebel organization with members on both sides of the border.

He also hopes to persuade Venezuela to return to the InterAmerican system of human rights.

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Bert Hoover

WATCH: Colombia and Venezuela fully reopen border bridge after seven years - From Al Jazeera English