Increasing the number of units of authorities at informal border crossings, continuing with binational meetings, as well as establishing communication channels in the field of military intelligence and police are some of the conclusions of the meeting of the defense ministers of Colombia and Venezuela.
Simultaneously with the meeting of the two defense ministers in Caracas, at a point on the border in the department of Vichada, the Venezuelan authorities returned to Colombia three Navy ships that had moved to Venezuelan territory years ago.
For their part, the Colombian authorities in the same way returned to Venezuela some rifles that were in their possession and that belonged to the Venezuelan guard.
After the second face-to-face meeting of the defense ministers of Colombia and Venezuela, both countries agreed to continue fighting transnational organized crime structured groups.
Colombian Minister Ivan Velasquez said that today there is a better understanding and communication between the authorities of both countries, so he predicted that it will become much more effective the fight against insecurity at the border.
“I was transmitting to Minister Padrino, this purpose, which is a decision of President Gustavo Petro, to confront criminal finances as decisively as possible, as we have been doing in Colombia and it has been doing in Venezuela, as a way to weaken Armed organizations, criminality in general, and Armed organizations to which the Colombian government has generously extended the invitation to join peace,” the Colombian minister explained.
For his part, the Venezuelan Minister of People's Power for Defense, General-in-Chief Vladimir Padrino, assured that progress has been made very quickly in all the integration processes in security matters and in the same way in healing wounds.
“With the border operations, we are going to liberate the national territory from terrorists, and armed groups, wherever they are from, wherever they come from, whatever their name is. No group has the morality, nor the authorization to remain in Venezuelan sovereign space and it is going to be fought with all the force,” Minister Padrino highlighted.
JOINT STATEMENT
Joint statement of the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Colombia and Venezuela. In the city of Caracas, at the headquarters of the Ministry of People's Power for Defense of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.
On May 11, 2023, a meeting was held by the Ministers of Defense of Venezuela and Colombia with the participation of General-in-Chief Vladimir Padrino López, Minister of People's Power for Defense of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and Mr. Iván Velásquez Gómez, Minister of National Defense of the Republic of Colombia. The meeting was held in accordance with the mandate of the Presidents of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro Moros and of the Republic of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, met in Caracas on January 7, 2023.
During the meeting, the ministers held a fraternal dialogue and reiterated the firm decision to strengthen bilateral relations in the field of military cooperation and reviewed the various issues that make up the bilateral agenda in order to deepen and humanize it. It was in the same way agreed to resume bilateral communication at all levels in the field of defense between the two countries.
They in the same way it was decided:
First: to recognize the progress reported or the results in the execution of the 16 activities carried out within the framework of the strategic operation Bolivarian Shield.
Second: to increase the number of units of Military Forces in informal crossings along the common border, in coordinated work to fight against smuggling.
Third: to establish a direct communication channel to exchange, inform and strengthen interaction in the field of intelligence between the commanders of the Bolivarian National Navy Force of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and the Military Police Forces of the Republic of Colombia.
Fourth: to continue to hold the meetings between the Regional Military Units of Venezuela and Colombia in the border areas, to strengthen the fight and the operational coordination of all existing threats and risk factors, especially transnational organized crime structured groups.
Finally, Ministers Padrino and Velasquez urged their technical teams to continue working together and strengthen defense cooperation between the two countries.
Source: Defense Sector Communications Office - Ministry of National Defense
