AMERICA/COLOMBIA - Testimony of Mgr. Vidal: "Promises arrive in Cúcuta, never decisions"

Monday, 2 March 2015

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Cúcuta (Agenzia Fides) - "So far Cúcuta is related more with Venezuela than with Colombian hinterland. This is a very busy border, where many cucuteños (inhabitants of Cúcuta) have family in Venezuela. Venezuelan students come here to study. I thought Cúcuta is like birds, that have no boundaries", says His Exc. Mgr. Julio Cesar Vidal Ortiz, Bishop of the Diocese of Cucuta, Colombia, in a long interview to the newspaper "El Colombiano" sent to Fides.
Mgr. Vidal speaks of this Christian community at the border with Venezuela, where he was appointed Bishop on July 16, 2011, after 10 years of episcopate in Montería. Drug trafficking and violence are among the main problems.
"In the region there are the FARC, the ELN, the EPL (Colombian guerrilla groups) which destabilize the region and Cúcuta" explains the Bishop.
The testimony of Mgr. Vidal is very timely after the order of Venezuela to close its borders to prevent alleged military or paramilitary operations by Colombian groups. In this regard, the Bishop said: "The closure of borders has created a serious problem to simple people, poor people, because many here went shopping in San Antonio, in Venezuela".
Regarding the support of the Colombian government for this border area, the Bishop said: "Promises arrive in Cúcuta, never decisions. I know they have asked to become 'free zone', to pay less tax or reduce VAT. Several proposals have been made, but there has been no response. So I think that the central government is in debt with Cúcuta in seeking an objective and appropriate solution to the situation that exists here". (CE) (Agenzia Fides 02/03/2015)