Officials and journalists inspect the containers that block the Tienditas bridge, between Colombia and Venezuela.Mario Caicedo (EFE)
"Soon".
The nascent government of Gustavo Petro in Colombia has not yet set specific deadlines for the full reopening of the extensive and porous border that it shares with Venezuela, a desire of the communities on both sides of the border line, but it remains optimistic that everything will happen in the short term.
Before a new milestone can be achieved to turn the page, after years of tensions between Bogotá and Caracas, the "security, integrity and diplomatic conditions" must be guaranteed, the new Minister of Commerce, Germán Umaña, reiterated this week. , the key man in charge of piloting the recovery of the commercial flow, during his applauded speech at a meeting of businessmen and union leaders from both countries in Cúcuta.
Although the first approaches were rushed faster than anticipated, and there are already designated ambassadors, relations, completely broken since 2019, are heading for a normalization process that still has to overcome obstacles and delays.
It won't happen overnight.
This Friday marks the seven-year anniversary of the commercial and vehicular closure ordered by Nicolás Maduro in 2015. The binational bridges continue to be converted, for the time being, into pedestrian crossings.
Despite those obstacles, optimism is trading higher.
Expectations overwhelm Cúcuta, the main city on a border of more than 2,200 kilometers and capital of the department of Norte de Santander, which borders the state of Táchira.
That axis became in better times the most active pass in Latin America.
“The closure of the border meant an increase in absolute poverty, monetary poverty, a fall in per
capita income
, the terrible difference in the unemployment rates of Norte de Santander and Táchira compared to the rest of the country, the increase in informality”, lamented Minister Umaña during his speech, the most anticipated of the day, at the second meeting of the “Border Agreement”, at the Casino Internacional hotel.
The first marked the return of Colombian businessmen to Venezuela, and occurred at the beginning of July in San Cristóbal, the capital of Táchira, when Umaña, a renowned economist, was still presiding over the Colombo-Venezuelan Chamber.
“The goal we are pursuing now is not simply trade, make no mistake.
The objective that we are pursuing is to close the social gaps through development, business creation, job creation, and the possibility that the relationship between Colombia and Venezuela, on the border, be a virtuous relationship”, explained Umaña, without put a date on the long-awaited moment when cargo trucks cross one of the four bridges that connect Táchira and Norte de Santander.
Trade reached more than $7 billion in 2008, but has since plummeted.
The minister insisted before the press that the Petro Administration pursues a comprehensive solution, and not a partial fact.
“What is going to happen when we open the bridges is that we are substituting illegality,
The meeting was an "old wish" of "all Venezuelan society," said Carlos Fernández, the president of Fedecamaras, the largest employers' association in Venezuela.
"We want to manage the expectation in some way, because the important thing is to go far, not to go fast," he clarified before the thirst for more specific announcements that did not occur.
Representatives of the Government of the Bolivarian Republic did not arrive either, although it has already become clear that there is an ongoing dialogue not only between the foreign ministries, but also between the commercial, transport and even military authorities.
The event, prepared for some 180 people, was attended by more than 300, including two ministers from the Petro Cabinet - Umaña and the Transportation Minister, Guillermo Reyes - and the designated ambassador in Caracas, Armando Benedetti.
Colombian Trade Minister Germán Umaña speaks during the "Border Agreement" meeting in Cúcuta on Thursday, August 18, 2022. Ferley Ospina (Bloomberg)
For more than 10 years, after the resumption of relations between the governments of Hugo Chávez and Juan Manuel Santos in 2010, such an event has not been seen, says Juan Fernando Cristo, a politician from Norte de Santander who has been consul in Caracas, senator and interior minister of Santos.
“In some way it is a sound signal of a job that the border people have done, fundamentally, against the current during the four years of the Duque Government,” he tells EL PAÍS.
Among ordinary citizens, not only among businessmen, there is a feeling of “great hope”, he values.
Even though it was the department that voted the least for the first left-wing president in the history of Colombia.
“Paradoxically, the people, the vast majority of whom did not vote for the Petro government,
Cúcuta is a city “more Venezuelan than Colombian”, points out José Fernando Bautista, one of the speakers, who among many other positions has been ambassador to Venezuela.
“The meeting of businessmen is an unequivocal sign of the fervor, desire and approval that all civil society and the productive apparatus of each country is giving to the opening of the border as quickly as possible, understanding that it is necessary to take some orderly and systematic steps,” he told EL PAÍS.
Another of the participants, Estefanía Colmenares, the director of the newspaper
La Opinion
of Cúcuta, highlights the atmosphere of illusion, hope and expectation that prevails in the face of what may come, but he missed the presence of the Government of Venezuela.
“My perception is that on the Colombian side we advance faster, and that there everything works slower and it is more difficult for them to organize themselves,” he says.
“We know that [the reopening] is on the right track, but it is uncertain when it will happen.”
Despite the optimism, obstacles remain, both metaphorically and literally.
The Tienditas Binational Bridge, despite being the most modern and robust of the border crossings, called to play a leading role, has never seen a vehicle pass.
It was not inaugurated.
The image of the containers crossed by soldiers loyal to Chavismo since February 2019, at the height of the many crises between the two neighboring countries, made it a symbol of encounters and disagreements.
The hulks have been piling up ever since.
At least a dozen, crossed in a
zigzag
and dotted with rust stains, continue to block the road on the Venezuelan side, as EL PAÍS was able to verify last Thursday, when it accompanied a group of officials led by Reyes, the Minister of Transportation, who reached the border line, marked by the Táchira river that runs below.
Its purpose was to verify that the bridges are ready by the time the borders reopen.
Signs abound that the region is headed for a revival.
The day before the meeting of businessmen, with an acrobatic
show
of salsa in a waiting room at the Camilo Daza airport, Avianca inaugurated two new routes that connect Cúcuta with Cali and Medellín, in addition to frequencies with Bogotá.
"It is a commitment to the potential of Cúcuta, the border and the entire Norte de Santander region," says Felipe Gómez, director of institutional relations for the main Colombian airline.
Avianca is also working on restoring the route between Bogotá and Caracas, which the Petro Government included as a goal for its first 100 days in its junction commission.
“We want to be part of that reconnection of the two countries,” says Gómez.
From Cúcuta a direct flight to Caracas is requested, but returning to travel between the two capitals seems like the previous step.
Whether by car or plane, the journey to restore relations between Colombia and Venezuela still has a long way to go,
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