Shaking hands, as a symbol of union between two peoples, the headquarters of the Consulate General of Colombia in San Cristóbal was inaugurated, a fact that is part of the main commitments acquired with the normalization of diplomatic and consular relations between the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and Colombia.
I invite you to a commercial, political and social union, to give very positive results to the people of both countries, as stated by Consul David Haddad Clavijo, who will be in charge of the New Granada diplomatic office.
“We need to unite at a historic moment on a global level, where Colombia and Venezuela have to be united, the people have to be united by the world situation. Also because of that persecution that Venezuela has had. It is the moment when Colombians and Venezuelans must be more united, leaving behind all the hatred, quarrels, and the difficult situations that have arisen,” Clavijo pointed out.
He also acknowledged both presidents, Gustavo Petro and Nicolás Maduro, “they have achieved that union again, necessary and that should never have been broken.”
He highlighted that this step is the result of a process that has been developed to regain mutual trust, "today we are complying, reaping fruits of the work that has been carried out, with the reopening of the Colombian Consulate in San Cristóbal to provide services to fellow citizens and generating greater trust and economic development between the two regions.”
Clavijo said he felt at home being in San Cristóbal, “in addition to the oil and mineral wealth that Venezuela has, I think that the most important wealth they have is their people. "Pleasant, affable people, dear people, hard-working, vigorous, very happy, we are here to serve you at the consulate," he said.
Schedules and procedures
Public service hours will begin at 8:00 am on Monday, September 25. It will be carried out under the “peak and ID” modality, that is, on Mondays the terminal whose ID number ends in 1 and 2 is served. On Tuesdays 3 and 4, Wednesdays 5 and 6, and Thursdays 7 and 8 and on Fridays numbers 9 and 0.
Users will be able to carry out procedures for: passport, visa, civil registration, certified copy of civil registration, certificate of life, permits for departures of minors, among others in a first stage.
Subsequently, the registration equipment will be installed to process ID cards and ID cards. Progressively all services related to the Consulate will be provided.
He indicated that the Consulate of San Cristóbal has the capacity to attend to the contingency of other states such as Apure, Barinas, Mérida, while the Colombian government decides whether to enable consular offices in these entities.
The costs of the procedures are established according to the legal regulations that govern the matter and they will be published in the consulate so that citizens know their value.
Governor welcomes
The governor of Táchira, Freddy Bernal, welcomed and greeted the reopening of the Consulate.
“For us, the relationship with Norte de Santander is vital and now with the Colombian Consulate here we want the border to once again have the dynamism it had before the closure.”
He stressed that he has a friendship with President Petro for more than 25 years, “President Petro's task is not easy, so we wish for the peace of Colombia, that he manages to get out of the spiral of violence that he has had for many years.”
We support the management of President Petro and we welcome the Consul of Colombia here in San Cristóbal and we will continue working to ensure that our Colombian brothers move throughout Táchira, Bernal assured.
Consulate of San Antonio operational since July
After several years of breaking diplomatic and consular relations between both nations, the Colombian Consulate in San Antonio del Táchira opened its doors again for service. It is headed by Consul Bernardo Alejandro Mahé Matamoros.
The constituency of this consulate includes the bordering towns of Bolívar, Junín, Pedro María Ureña and Rafael Urdaneta.
It should be noted that the reopening of the Consulate is part of the main commitments acquired with the normalization of diplomatic and consular relations between the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and Colombia.
