Colombia-Venezuela Border Will Fully Reopen as of January

On Monday, Venezuela's president Nicolas Maduro announced that his administration is preparing the opening of the land border with Colombia as of January 1, 2023.

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"We will fully open Venezuela's western border with Colombia for the passage of vehicles," he said, adding that the decision is a "new year's gift" for border residents.

Previously, the Colombian ambassador to Venezuela Armando Benedetti announced that the Tienditas international bridge would gradually open to vehicular traffic as of Dec. 15.

On Sept. 26, the opening of the transit of cargo trucks occurred through the Simon Bolivar Bridge. This process, however, has not yet advanced far.

Currently, the crossing from one country to another is still done exclusively on foot, despite the fact that Venezuela and Colombia have several common bridges and roads.

On another topic, Maduro described the first cycle of peace talks between the Colombian government and the National Liberation Army (ELN) as successful.

"We have provided all the support from Venezuela. We are very happy for the great progress achieved... As we have always said, peace in Colombia is peace in Venezuela and South America", he reiterated.

Finally, the Bolivarian leader mentioned that economic, political and diplomatic relations with Brazil have positive prospects after the arrival of Lula da Silva as Brazilian president.