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Talks between the governments of Venezuela and Aruba aimed at halting the flow of contraband between the two countries have so far been "fruitful" and are set to resume January 18.
The announcement was made by Venezuelan Vice-President of Economics Wilmar Castro Soteldo, who said late Friday: "It was a very fruitful meeting with proposals well aligned with the approach that we had brought from Venezuela to the debate table."
Soteldo, after meeting with Prime Minister of Aruba Evelyn Wever-Croez and other officials to discuss ways of combating smuggling, described the high-level discussion as "very fruitful."
"It was possible to create a work report that will be submitted to the authorities of both the government of the Netherlands and the government of Venezuela for review so that the corresponding decisions can be made," Soteldo said.
The two parties have agreed to evaluate "new approaches that emerged after the debate" to decide on the next actions to be applied by the Venezuelan government.
Among the items discussed were joint work to combat organized crime, as well as the prohibition of tracing merchandise from crime by commercial actors and entrepreneurs of Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao.
Venezuelan officials presented reasons for closing borders and suspending commercial exchange until the follow-up meeting in order to achieve a lasting solution.
Actions include mandatory compliance with international standards governing trade between countries and requesting a certificate of origin for products entering the country
On January 5, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro ordered the closure of air and maritime routes, motivated by the smuggling of strategic material affecting the Venezuelan population.
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