Venezuela has established contacts with Gustavo Petro’s government in Colombia to restore “military ties” between the two countries, which share a porous and violent border, Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino Lpez said on Tuesday (9).
“I have received instructions from President Nicols Maduro to contact the Colombian Defense Minister, which I will do in the next few hours,” Padrino Lpez told the government press.
The approach aims to restore “military ties” between the two countries, the Venezuelan armed forces published on Twitter, citing the minister’s words.
“Faced with the new national scenario that Colombia is experiencing, it is time to take responsibility and work together,” added Padrino Lpez.
Petro appointed Ivn Velsquez, a renowned investigator who chaired the UN Commission against Corruption in Guatemala, as defense minister.
Venezuela and Colombia agreed to resume ambassadorlevel diplomatic relations with Petro’s assumption of power last Sunday. The break came in 2019 after the previous government under Ivn Duque recognized opposition figure Juan Guaid as interim president.
“That doesn’t mean that there will be a political change and that the changes will take place immediately, that doesn’t exist, we have to proceed step by step, that nobody rushes, a lot of caution, a lot of tact and a lot of open eyes,” explained the minister .
The 2,000 km border shared by the two countries has been marked by years of violence with the presence of guerrillas, paramilitaries and drug traffickers.
Duque accused Maduro of harboring dissidents from the defunct FARC and organizations linked to drug trafficking, which the socialist denied, and also condemned Bogot’s plans to overthrow or assassinate him.
In March 2021, fighting in Apure between the Venezuelan military and Colombian guerrillas linked by Chavismo to the neighboring government killed 16 officers and displaced thousands of civilians.
The Colombian Armed Forces also denounced violations of their territory by the Venezuelan military. In August 2021, they arrested two soldiers accused of crossing them illegally, armed.
In addition, the closure of the binational passages has led to the opening of alternative routes, known as “trochas,” through which thousands of people and millions of dollars in contraband are transported.