Venezuelan, Colombian leaders to meet over troubled border

The presidents of Venezuela and Colombia have agreed to meet to discuss the problems along their shared border, Venezuela's Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced Sunday.

"Presidents Nicolas Maduro and Juan Manuel Santos will decide on a date for the meeting," the ministry said via Twitter.

The announcement came a day after the two countries' respective foreign ministers met in Ecuador's capital Quito to discuss a recent border flare up sparked after a Venezuelan military border patrol unit was fired on by alleged Colombian paramilitaries in August.

"Having satisfactorily discussed sensitive bilateral border issues, the two foreign ministers will consult with the presidents to program an upcoming presidential meeting," Ecuadoran Foreign Affairs Minister Ricardo Patino, who hosted the gathering, said at a joint press conference Saturday.

After the border incident, Venezuela closed major border crossing points last month and deported over a thousand of Colombians in a bid to fight crime and a thriving cross-border smuggling trade.

Many of those Colombians are refugees fleeing decades of violence from Latin America's longest-running civil war, leading the United Nations in Colombia to urge dialogue to avoid aggravating the humanitarian crisis on their shared border.

Following the meeting, Venezuelan Vice President Jorge Arreaza said via Twitter, "We have agreed that the socioeconomic models of Venezuela and Colombia oppose each other (but) we must coexist in peace under that premise."

The Venezuelan government's newly launched "New Peaceful Border Mission," he added, "is a necessity, for both Venezuela and Colombia. Both countries must work in that regard."

Ecuador currently holds the presidency of regional integration bloc CELAC (Community of Latin American and Caribbean States), while Uruguay, whose foreign minister was also present at the meeting, heads Unasur (Union of South American Nations). Enditem