ISTANBUL

Venezuela’s acting President Delcy Rodriguez has announced that the first shipment of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) from her country to Colombia by road has begun.

Rodriguez met with a delegation led by Colombian Foreign Minister Rosa Yolanda Villavicencio at the Miraflores Presidential Palace in the Venezuelan capital Caracas on Friday.

Speaking after the meeting, Rodriguez said the first LPG shipment transported by road between the two countries was carried out between the Colombian city of Cucuta and Venezuela’s Tachira state.

She noted that trucks belonging to the state oil company PDVSA crossed the International Simon Bolivar Bridge, which connects the two countries.

“This is the first passage of tankers carrying LPG and butane gas to Colombia through the Simon Bolivar Bridge. It is the first LPG export from Venezuela to Colombia,” she said.

Addressing Colombian President Gustavo Petro, Rodriguez said that Venezuela is following the legendary 19th century revolutionary leader Simon Bolivar’s path and emphasized that measures on Venezuela harm both countries and the wider Latin American region.

In a post through US social media company X, Petro called for a full energy integration between Colombia and Venezuela and a fully coordinated operation to drive armed narco groups from the shared border.

“The binational zone belongs to the peoples and is the fundamental pillar of the true integration of the two republics founded by Bolivar,” he said.

Petro added that he proposes “making double nationality a reality in terms of full rights for Venezuelan citizens in Colombia and for Colombian citizens in Venezuela.”

“I propose zero tariffs on all binational trade, full energy integration prioritizing clean energies,” he added.