Leer en Español
A report published earlier this month warns that armed groups on the Colombian-Venezuelan border are reconfiguring their activities, according to the Runrunes website.
According to the RADAR Colombia Venezuela project, the normalization of the border has transformed the security conditions between Norte de Santander and Táchira.
The armed groups, the study says, are “reconfiguring their access to illegal markets and their territorial presence, increasing violent actions that affect the population of Colombia and Venezuela.”
The report also notes that meetings and conversations for the recovery of bilateral relations with Venezuela have not been adequately socialized by the Colombian authorities.
There is also no known agenda or action plan for this step.
Last month, after meeting with Nicolás Maduro, President Gustavo Petro advocated for “removing barriers” to cross-border trade between the two countries and deepening relations so that “people can live without fear.”
Both signed an agreement that Petro considered “one more step towards integration, which should never have been suspended.”
More! United States and Xi Jinping’s visit to Putin
“We have to fill these bridges with commerce, remove barriers,” Petro defended in his speech at the Atanasio Girardot International Bridge -known as Tienditas-, which connects the Colombian department of Norte de Santander with the Venezuelan state of Táchira.
However, he indicated that “there is still much to be done because it is not only about filling these bridges with commerce, but filling them with people, so that (people) can come and go.”
