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Venezuelan President Nicols Maduro on Monday announced his intention to fully open the border crossings with Colombia starting January 1, a measure repeatedly postponed following the restoration of diplomatic and commercial ties between the South American neighbours. Relations between the countries were broken off in 2019, but Maduro has said the environment is conducive to improved ties with the election of Gustavo Petro as Colombia's first leftist president. The neighbours resumed diplomatic relations in September. I am going to announce that we will be completely opening the border, for all of western Venezuela with Colombia, for the passage of vehicles, motorcycles, trucks as of January 1. Maduro said on state television. We are preparing everything to comply with what we announced, to fulfill what was promised to President Gustavo Petro, he said. Petro has recognised Maduro as the legitimate president of Venezuela. His predecessor, Ivn Duque, along with dozens of other countri
Venezuelan President Nicols Maduro on Tuesday said his government will act as a guarantor in peace talks between Colombia's government and the National Liberation Army rebel group that are slated to begin later this year. Maduro said on national television that he had accepted a request by Colombian President Gustavo Petro to take on the diplomatic role, adding that his socialist government was interested in fomenting peace, security and stability in Colombia and throughout the continent. Previous peace talks between the Colombian government and rebel groups have included the participation of guarantor nations that have acted as observers of the negotiations and supported both sides with logistics. Venezuela was a guarantor nation in a previous round of negotiations between Colombia and the National Liberation Army, or ELN, that began in 2016. But the Colombian government asked the Maduro administration to step down from that role in 2018, as political tensions increased between the