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Colombia, Venezuela border to reopen for cargo traffic

26 September 2022
25928
2022-09-26 11:31

People along the border of Colombia and Venezuela have expressed the hope that the reopening of the countries' shared border to cargo transport will bring in much-needed commerce to the region.

"It will be something very positive for both countries, Colombia and Venezuela," said Michael, a Venezuelan, who was crossing the Simon Bolivar Bridge between the two countries on Sunday."The borders will open, there will be more commerce. And I hope that in a few months, it will also open for private cars. There will be more jobs", he added. The years-long closure of their countries' shared border to cargo transport between Venezuela and Colombia is set to end on September 26, with air service between their capitals also expected to resume. The border crossing bridges are currently open to pedestrian traffic. Limited cargo transport is allowed only at one bridge in the northern portion of the countries' shared 1,370-mile border. The plan to reopen comes a month after Gustavo Petro was sworn in as Colombia's first leftist president, beginning a thaw in relations between his country and the government of Nicolás Maduro.

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