Venezuela, Colombia to build 3rd border bridge

Venezuela and Colombia have agreed to build a third border bridge to improve the traffic along their 2,220-km border, officials from the two countries said here on Friday. The bridge will be located between Venezuela's border city Urena in Tachira state and Cucuta in Colombia's northern Norte de Santander state, Colombian Foreign Minister Maria Angela Holguin said after meeting with her Venezuelan counterpart Elias Jaua. The bridge will be financed by the Andean Development Corporation and the governors of the two states involved will oversee its progress. Holguin said she and Jaua had also discussed border security and fuel supply. Their three-hour closed-door meeting was part of the regular meetings between Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos, which had taken place every three months since 2010. Chavez is currently recovering from his cancer surgery in Havana, Cuba. Holguin expressed support for him, saying Colombia "is with you at this difficult time Venezuela is going through." The two foreign ministers last met in Caracas in May 2011 when they agreed on joint measures to strengthen military security along the border.