Colombia, Venezuela resume diplomatic contacts amid border crisis

The foreign ministers of Colombia and Venezuela agreed Saturday to renew diplomatic ties that had been interrupted due to an ongoing border crisis between the two neighbors.

Colombian Foreign Minister Maria Angela Holguin and her Venezuelan counterpart, Delcy Rodriguez, met in Ecuador's capital to resolve their nation's differences and pave the way for a meeting of their respective presidents.

Ambassadors from each country had been recalled in late August after tension over the crisis boiled over.

Bogota and Caracas have been in a spiraling row since President Nicolas Maduro closed part of their shared border on August 19, blaming Colombian paramilitaries for an attack on a Venezuelan anti-smuggling patrol.

Maduro accused Colombia of waging "an attack on Venezuela's economy," a reference to the rampant smuggling of heavily subsidized goods out of the oil-rich but shortage-hit socialist country.

Venezuela has deported some 1,500 Colombians living in Venezuela since the crisis began, and more than 18,500 others have fled in fear, the United Nations said.

An earlier meeting between Holguin and Rodriguez on August 26 failed to end the war of words between the two countries.

The governments of Ecuador and Uruguay have been pushing officials in Bogota and Caracas to resolve their differences.
Source: AFP