|
Colombia seeks to integrate
frontier region with Venezuela
Colombian
President Alvaro Uribe
reiterated on Sunday that his
government seeks an integration
of the frontier region with
Venezuela to address the
grievances of the poor on both
sides.
Uribe made the remarks while
addressing an audience of 5,000
in the frontier city of Cucuta,
where he was campaigning for
re-election in the May 28
presidential vote.
"We are working for the poor of
both nations, to built projects
which benefit both of us," he
said. "Managing a common agenda
for the good of the frontier
regions is Colombia's only
interest with Venezuela (on the
issue)."
"Our only intention for
Venezuela is brotherhood," he
added, noting that Colombia has
sold Monomeros -- a fertilizer
factory based in Barrangquilla,
the capital of Colombia's
Atlantico province -- to
Venezuela as a gesture of
goodwill.
The president also said a
planned gas pipeline, which is
expected to be built from July
1, will link the northern
Colombian province of Guajira
with the Venezuelan city of
Maracaibo.
Colombia and Venezuela are
currently experiencing a
diplomatic tension after
Colombia's signing of a free
trade agreement with the United
States.
Venezuela has decided to
withdraw from the Andean
Community of Nations, a regional
trade bloc, on grounds that the
trade deal, as well as another
similar one signed by Peru, has
killed the organization.
|
|
