Colombia, Venezuela foreign ministers to meet this month

The foreign ministers of Colombia and Venezuela will meet before the end of September, the Venezuelan Foreign Ministry said Friday.

According to a press release signed by Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro, the meeting with his Colombian counterpart Maria Angela Holguin will take place in the border region between the two countries.

Maduro said efforts of both countries to re-establish trade and diplomatic ties “are working perfectly” and that “this is the era of true brotherhood between Venezuela and Colombia.”

On Tuesday, Venezuela appointed a new ambassador to Bogota. Ambassador Ivan Rincon said Wednesday that relations between the neighbor nations must be based on diplomacy in order to avoid repeating the history of conflict between the two countries.

Following accusations by the administration of Colombia’s former president Alvaro Uribe that Venezuela is harboring FARC guerrillas, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez cut all ties in July. Two weeks later, when Juan Manuel Santos took office, the neighboring presidents met to re-establish ties. Following this meeting, the two countries agreed to install five bilateral commissions to optimizing relations, trade, and border security.

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