Trucks loaded with aluminum and medications have crossed a bridge linking Colombia and Venezuela for the first time in seven years, as the neighbouring countries continue to mend relations after years of political conflict.
The border reopening – which will see goods like coal, toilet paper and fruit moved through crossings between the Colombian city of Cucuta and the Venezuelan state of Tachira – was a key campaign promise of Colombia’s new left-wing President Gustavo Petro.
Petro arrived at Simon Bolivar International Bridge, one of the main crossings that connects the two countries, for a ceremony on Monday morning, Al Jazeera’s Alessandro Rampietti reported from the bridge.
“Obviously this means a lot symbolically; symbolically [it] shows the end of this … sort of cold war that has existed between Colombia and Venezuela for a number of years now,” Rampietti said, adding that many hope the resumption of trade will improve the economic situation in the area.
Credit: Aljazeera.com
