Colombia says Venezuela agrees to fight cross-border crimes

Venezuela has agreed to cooperate with Colombia in all areas, including jointly cracking down on cross-border crimes, Defense Minister Rodrigo Rivera said Sunday.

"The bilateral agenda will be a mutual-comprehension in all aspects against different kinds of crime, including the military and police aspects," Rivera said in an interview with a local newspaper after meeting his Venezuelan counterpart Carlos Mata in Caracas Friday.

The Colombian-Venezuelan border, approximately 2,000 km long, is frequented by different armed groups from guerrillas to drug traffickers.

Rivera said he agreed with Mata to build a "direct, armored line to share information to deal with crimes on both sides of border," as part of a security mechanism of the five bilateral working commissions to reboot diplomatic relations.

Colombia will "continue to insist that all the countries of the region comply with their obligations to tackle drug trafficking and terrorism," he said.

On July 22, Venezuela severed ties with Colombia and beefed up its military deployment at the border in response to Bogota's claim that its rebel militants were hiding in Venezuelan territory.

Newly sworn-in Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos and his Venezuelan counterpart Hugo Chavez agreed on Aug. 10 to resume diplomatic relations after a long meeting in Santa Marta, a city on Colombia's Caribbean coast.

Source: Xinhua