After preventing the passage of humanitarian aid in 2019, Maduro ordered the removal of the containers from the Tienditas bridge

The regime of Nicolas Maduro began this Tuesday the removal of the containers that their own collaborators put 4 years ago in the middle of the Tienditas International Bridgewhich connects Venezuela with Colombia, to prevent the delivery of humanitarian aid by the United States and other countries and to prohibit movement between both countries due to bilateral conflicts with the then Colombian president Gustavo Duke.

The work was built by both nations in 2016 with an investment of 32 million dollarsbut it was never put into service and in February 2019, in the midst of tensions with the Colombian government, the Madurista dictatorship placed several containers on the structure to block the way.

However, operators of Ministry of Transportation of Venezuela They began this Tuesday to cut the rods that hold the containers together to the handrail of the bridge, which is expected to be opened this Thursday, although there is still no clarity on whether it will be enabled for the transit of people or heavy load.

The reestablishment of relations between the two countries, which took place last August, and the reopening of other border crossings, which occurred on September 26, have allowed the passage of cargo vehicles through international bridges Simon Bolivar and Francisco de Paula Santander but traffic has not been fully normalized.

The Simón Bolívar bridge connects the town of Villa del Rosarioin the metropolitan area of ​​Cúcuta (Colombia), with San Antonio del Táchira (Venezuela), while the Francisco de Paula Santander connects Cúcuta with Ureña (Venezuela).

Last Monday, the Chavista regime announced that as of January 1, 2023 The border with Colombia will be opened to allow the passage of private vehicles between the two nations, something that has not happened since 2015, despite the fact that the first step in this direction was taken last September.

“I can announce that we will be completely opening the border, from all of western Venezuela with Colombia for the passage of vehicles, motorcycles, trucks, cars, everything,” said Maduro, who added that it is a “new year gift” for the people of the border.

According to Maduro, “everything is being prepared to fulfill what we announced, to fulfill the word given to the president.” Gustavo Petro”.

While Venezuela and Colombia are advancing, albeit slowly, in the full reestablishment of economic and commercial relations, the Venezuelan opposition deputy Jose Gregorio Correa proposed to establish traffic controls in the border crossings.

“We agree that there is free transit, but with controls. It should not be an open-court relationship, but framed within a legislation that allows Venezuelans to have, from a commercial point of view, competitiveness and profits, and that we do not have to compete at a disadvantage,” he said in a statement, in the one who also celebrated the decision of a “total opening” of the border.

Correa stressed the need to take care of “order” and set “regulations” for the reactivation of the passage of private vehicles, which have not been able to transit these crossings since August 2015.

(With information from EFE)

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