This is how the border reopening between Colombia and Venezuela was achieved

A border is not only an imaginary line that defines how far a country reaches. That is why when Bogotá and Caracas shout "the borders are closed" it is the communities in the area that begin to suffer. That happened in 2015 when the government of Nicolás Maduro ordered the closure of the eight binational border crossings and then, in 2019, block the Simón Bolívar, Santander and Tienditas bridges, which connect the two countries with containers filled with sand.

That decision had serious consequences for the binational population, who saw their lives and dynamics transformed. And not for the better. The only ones who won with the closure of the border were the criminal groups that already moved on the trails, but in the last five years they became the lords and masters of smuggling, human trafficking, drug trafficking and another long list of crimes.

Illegal armed groups on both sides exercise authority and sneak through the undergrowth avoiding the Colombian armed forces, which deployed 9,000 additional soldiers at the beginning of the week. “They are the owners who control the side of the river and charge for each movement in the place. They don't set a fixed price, but they ask for a collaboration, ”says Inti Mella, a resident of San Antonio del Táchira.

That is why the announcement of reopening the border became for the inhabitants of Táchira and Norte de Santander, mainly, the news of the year. This week, the Venezuelan Vice President, Delcy Rodríguez, reported that as of October 5, the commercial reopening of the main border crossing between Colombia and Venezuela began. And then, the containers that blocked the Simón Bolívar International Bridge were removed.

On Friday, the last container that blocked the Francisco de Paula Santander international bridge was removed and the blocks that restricted the pedestrian crossing of thousands of people who daily try to cross the border through this other point were also removed. "So that through the bridge they start to enter gandolas with products from Venezuela to Colombia, from Colombia to Venezuela, a biosecure exchange, and some will also pass through the Simón Bolívar bridge," said Rodríguez.

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However, union authorities told this newspaper that it will be next week when the reactivation in form begins. "It is expected that a meeting will be held between the Venezuelan and Colombian representatives to finalize the details that will allow this gradual reopening and biosecurity," they explained to El Espectador.

Behind this achievement there is a job of more than two years. According to local unions, there were many problems that accumulated and led the regional authorities of Táchira and Norte de Santander to hold meetings to solve them. However, it was an environmental one that accelerated the negotiation.

In 2019, when a serious environmental crisis occurred in Norte de Santander due to a thick layer of smoke that affected Cúcuta and its metropolitan area, according to Corponor, due to the burning of garbage in the La Mulata sector, a rural area on the Venezuelan side in the state of Táchira, a first appointment was made. The main economic unions, civil society and authorities of Norte de Santander and Táchira contacted each other and established a dialogue that was not easy. Sources close to this process told this newspaper that there were about twenty meetings between binational regional authorities, who threw the process on their shoulders, first solving emergencies and then raising the need to work, with the knowledge of the national governments, in the reopening of the border.

“The Colombian-Venezuelan populations have strong ties that have been woven over the years, there is a whole commercial and social circuit that cannot be stopped that forced many into illegality, but environmental ties are also shared and in that space there have been many problems that have required that the two sides work together, ”Socorro Ramírez, analyst and founder of the Puentes Ciudadanos organization, explained to El Espectador.

"Especially on the Andean border, where the Táchira and Norte de Santander are, is where more pressure is generated by the closure and that is not resolved with Bogotá or Caracas shouting more," he added.

What was done and what follows

There was a time when Colombia and Venezuela were the main partners. In 2008, according to the Colombian-Venezuelan Chamber (CCV), this exchange marked a record of US $ 7,211 million. Not even a shadow remains of that golden age. The numbers do not lie: in 2015, when the Venezuelan government ordered the closure of the border, trade fell to US $ 1,331 million before finally falling to the lowest point in 2020: US $ 222 million.

According to CCV data, smuggling, which has grown in the area since 2015, earns between US $ 800 and US $ 1 billion annually. With the announced reopening, it is intended to initially take away about US $ 300 million that is paid in corruption, that is, bribery payments.

On September 5, an agreement was signed between the delegates of both countries that allowed several things. Recently 370 students crossed to take the ECAES exams; days later, about 4,000 students, about 80% Venezuelan, were allowed through the border crossings; then a container was removed so that the school routes could travel without problem and vaccination began on both sides of the border.

That is an important precedent for what follows, which is the passage of trucks, which will be done once the customs conditions are in place. Migration Colombia is giving the pertinent authorizations as well as the Ministry of Health, which has carried out important work in the area to guarantee the immunization of those who cross the border.

Next week a pilot plan will be implemented to see how things are going and the companies that are enabled to start the passage of goods. Everything, according to Migración Colombia, will continue to be done with the application of measures such as the peak and plate, which will allow the initial passage of approximately 4,000 people a day, but as immunity increases, that figure can double.

And if the data is reviewed, what happens in Norte de Santander and Táchira is painful: they are the two areas with the worst social and economic indicators in each country. In Norte de Santander, for example, monetary and multidimensional poverty is ten points higher than in the rest of the country; unemployment is six points higher than in any other Colombian area; And what about Táchira, which has more poverty than the rest of the country.

That is why few believe in the statements of Duque and Maduro on the subject. “Both sides need an economic reactivation and our main market is Venezuela, Norte de Santander is one of the departments hardest hit by unemployment and the economy; the two presidents had to accept this step, ”explains Ronal Rodríguez, coordinator of the Venezuela Observatory at the Universidad del Rosario.

“You can ask the international community for help to consolidate this reopening and prevent the tension between Maduro and Duque from reversing this possibility of the two countries facing a problem that has only left negative effects on the most vulnerable sectors. of the population, including migrants, ”Ramírez concludes.

On Friday, in a statement, Freddy Bernal, protector of Táchira, announced that “on the part of Venezuela as of today the border is officially open. The people standing in Venezuela need openness. The same happens with the merchants of Norte de Santander. The next case is the removal of the containers from the Unión Bridge that connects Puerto Santander and La Fría ”. We look forward to the next step.

Requirements to cross the border between Venezuela and Colombia

After the announcement of the reopening, Iván Duque said that an evaluation of the bridge structures should be made, since since 2019 they have been blocked by containers full of sand, which could affect those constructions as they are structures designed to withstand moving passages and not a fixed weight.

For his part, Juan Francisco Espinosa said that Colombia maintains the control of people under peak and ID, from 6 am to 4 pm "This is good news, but not for an excessive increase in the passage of people. . We need to protect Venezuelans and host communities in Norte de Santander, so there are biosafety controls with the departmental Health Secretariat. "

Delcy Rodríguez, vice president of Venezuela, said that a process of disinfection of trucks and merchandise will be carried out. "The people who participate in this exchange must have their vaccination card," said Rodríguez.