In a press conference following the meeting, Santos confirmed the reopening would start on Saturday, Aug. 13, and would enable communities living close to the border to travel in and out of the neighboring countries.
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Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos met in the Venezuelan town of Puerto Ordaz Thursday to hammer out the details of the opening. The two South American leaders met to assess the situation on the Venezuelan-Colombian border, and to discuss the possibility of reopening of border crossings closed now for nearly a year.
Maduro said that the decision to reopen the border was made on July 23 when the two presidents met in Havana, adding that they had discussed the matter with their ministers so that “efficacy and efficiency” will prevail in the process.
The announcement came after Presidents Nicolas Maduro of Venezuela and Juan Manuel Santos of Colombia met Thursday. Initially, five border crossings will be open during the day.
Venezuela is facing severe shortages in an economic crisis fueled by the global crash in the price of oil, its main export.
The leftist leader has briefly reopened the border in recent weeks to allow Venezuelans to stock up on food, medicine and other basic supplies. Many had driven in caravans through the night for a chance at snagging precious goods.
Before the border was shut, more than 100,000 people crossed the border daily, Venezuela’s government said.
Maduro sealed off his country’s 2,200-kilometer western border on Aug 19 previous year after an attack on a Venezuelan army patrol which wounded three people. That number shrank to just 3,000 a day after the closure, nonprofit groups working in the region said.
Santos also emphasized that border security will be a key issue in normalizing activities in the border zone and that to ensure it a bilateral center had been created for “the fight against worldwide crime”, which the security ministers of the two nations will jointly manage.
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Both leaders said they hoped that this tentative first step would lead to a full opening, including cargo and passenger vehicles.
