Caracas, Venezuela – Last week, Colombia and Venezuela signed a memorandum of understanding to create the first binational economic zone on the border that the two countries share.
Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodríguez signed the agreement with Diana Marcela Morales, current Colombian Minister of Commerce, Industry and Tourism. This agreement would benefit the citizens of the Colombian Norte de Santander department, as well as Táchira and Zulia, two bordering Venezuelan states.
The proposed economic zone aims to strengthen cooperation between the two countries and will encompass various sectors including commerce, industry, gas, petroleum, electricity, transport, and tourism.
At the press conference announcing the memorandum, Rodríguez stated that the agreement is a “historic and strategic step” to create a “zone of union, integration and socioeconomic development.”
The vice president highlighted that the agreement contemplates further “energy cooperation” between the two countries, with more interconnection of the power grid as well as joint investment in oil and gas.
Morales added that they “hope that this is the consolidation of the territory, which represents and translates to the development and socioeconomic growth of areas that deserve to be dignified and recognised.”
“The binational zone in the Colombian/Venezuelan border will allow the state to control the border as a space of legal prosperity without mafias,” noted Colombian President Gustavo Petro, reacting to the agreement. The head of state also added that he will make the Colombian Catatumbo region, a free zone where “legal investments skyrocket.”
In January, violence erupted in Catatumbo after the National Liberation Army (ELN) and the Frente 33 -a dissident group of the now-demobilised Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC)- engaged in open combat and ended a fragile truce.
Read more: Tibú, a town at the center of Colombia’s worst humanitarian crisis in a decade
The agreement between the two Latin American countries also seeks to promote international investment, with alleged interest from countries like China, India, Russia and Turkey.
President Maduro proposes additional “Binational Economic Zones”
On Tuesday, during his national television programme “Con Maduro+,” Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro proposed the creation of two additional “Binational Economic Zones” between the Colombian department of Arauca, and Apure, the bordering Venezuelan state, seeking to attract investment.
A third zone was proposed between the Venezuelan state of Amazonas and the Colombian municipalities of Guainía and Vichada. According to President Maduro, this zone’s purpose would be preserving biodiversity, fighting illegal mining, and creating jobs.
The Colombian government has yet to comment on the proposals for additional zones, as the plans for the first one remain in their initial stages.
Maduro mentioned utilising mechanisms like “permanent policing and military coordination to free this first binational zone of violence, from drug trafficking, paramilitary, hitmen and any kind of groups.”
According to reporting from Infobae, the Colombian government affirmed that “any security or joint work mechanisms must strictly adhere to sovereignty and the respective legal frameworks, under the supervision and control of national authorities.” Official sources close to the Ministry of Commerce of Colombia said that “these are only agreements in commercial, industrial and cultural matters, not military.”
The Colombian opposition reacts
Senator Paloma Valencia from the right-wing Democratic Center party criticized the agreement signed with the authoritarian regime of Maduro, claiming that “the government has to inform the country and cannot trample on the sovereignty of the territory.”
On a video shared via social media, Valencia said:
“In Colombia, we all know about the links between the guerrillas who destroyed Catatumbo […] and Maduro’s dictatorial regime. How is it possible that they are now telling us that they are going to create an exclusive exploitation zone?,” said Valencia on social media, warning that Colombia is at risk of Maduro interference.
On Thursday, former Colombian President Álvaro Uribe, founder of the Democratic Center party, said on X that the binational economic zone agreed with “Maduro’s tyranny” is “unacceptable.”
The former head of state, who is currently on trial for charges of witness tampering, further described the agreement as “a step forward in the surrender of the country to international crime and its protectors, such as Maduro.”
Featured image credit:
Venezolana de Television (VTV) via Daily Motion
