Reopening of the Ecuador-Colombia border: economic activities confronted at the end of 20 months after the closure

Many residents of Carchi and Sucumbíos depend on the exchange of products between Ecuador and Colombia to support their families. The closure of the main border crossing, the Rumichaca bridge, ends this December 15 with the beginning of a gradual opening that generates expectations in the border area. The economic sectors that have benefited during the 20 months of inactivity on the viaduct, in order to avoid COVID-19 infections, fear losing their income, while others want to recover what they have lost.

The process of reopening the Rumichaca bridge, closed since March 17, 2020, begins today with the authorization for the crew of the trucks from both countries to enter up to 11 km from the common border to unload the export and import goods; This ends the uncomfortable exchange of drivers in the center of the binational viaduct, which caused complaints about several traffic accidents.

For now, trucks are not allowed to reach the populated centers of Tulcán and Ipiales, and with this measure, light transport hopes to recover from the economic impact they have suffered.

Taxi drivers and van owners that offer the Tulcán-Rumichaca service and vice versa assure that they have not worked for 20 months and see the reopening as positive, which should take place on December 1, but was postponed to this day 15 as a reasonable time before the appearance of the omicron variant of the coronavirus.

On the other hand, the restaurant, hotel and commerce sectors are concerned about the reopening of the bridge, because they consider that the exchange rate differential of the dollar against the Colombian peso makes consumption attractive in the border cities of Ipiales and Pasto, in Colombia, located 10 and 70 minutes from the Rumichaca bridge, respectively.

The owners of commercial premises have been able to reopen their businesses due to the increased consumption of national products by the inhabitants of this area. They are also concerned. Alexander Chamorro, president of the Tulcán Chamber of Commerce, says that compensatory measures should be applied to achieve a reopening of the bridge that favors the development of this area: “The elimination or reduction of VAT,” he exposes.

A municipal income registry determines that 400 patents have been activated in recent months, corresponding to the same number of ventures, especially in gastronomic services that offer a great diversity of national and international food.

Genari Pozo, president of the Reactivation 04 Collective, which has been promoting a gradual and orderly reopening, feared that with the reopening of the bridge the avalanches of cars (seen before the pandemic) that come from several Ecuadorian cities in December in tour shopping to Ipiales and Pasto. But according to the plan to reopen the bridge, that cannot happen this month.

The Minister of Transport, Marcelo Cabrera, explained to the Colombian chain NTN 24 that the entry of cargo trucks up to 11 km from each side of the border is only the first of four phases for a gradual reopening of the bridge. And in this initial phase the entry of private vehicles will not be allowed.

Only after a month, according to the plan, will it be evaluated whether it advances to the second phase, which includes the pedestrian crossing of people, who must present the vaccination card with the two doses against COVID-19.

Only in a third phase will cross-border transport taxis and vans be allowed on specific days depending on the number of plates. And only in the fourth and final phase would the passage to private light vehicles and all types of motor vehicles be authorized. That would probably only happen between March and April 2022 if sanitary conditions allow it.

All this is part of the biosafety protocols for the transit through the Rumichaca bridge agreed between the leaders of both countries. And every month, before the application of each phase, the two governments will make an evaluation that allows a safe and responsible opening of vehicles and people, confirmed the mayor of Ipiales, Luis Fernando Villota.

According to a Colombian study, losses of approximately $ 20 billion have been recorded during the closure of the international viaduct through which 35,000 people normally circulated each month before the pandemic.

Concern in Sucumbíos

Another viaduct that connects Ecuador with Colombia is the San Miguel Bridge, which will open the pedestrian crossing a month after the Rumichaca bridge reopens, according to the cross-border protocol.

Canoeros from Nueva Loja who work on the San Miguel river, in the General Farfán parish, are concerned to learn that their income will soon drop and others will lose their jobs with the opening of the viaduct that connects Sucumbíos with the Putumayo department in Colombia.

They are the members of the river transport association Fieras del Agua, which are dedicated to the transport of cargo and passengers through the tributary that divides the two nations.

For them, the closing of the bridge brought them benefits. The 23 canoeists make between five and six trips daily, transporting six passengers at a value of 3 dollars (or 10,000 Colombian pesos) for each person.

“We feel a bit sad, because it hurts us. The pandemic, although it affected many, but it has helped us to have an economic income. If the bridge is opened, this river crossing would no longer work, where will we go? ”Lamented Fredy Machoa, a canoe rider from the General Farfán border dock.

There are 23 families that depend on this work. With the reopening of the bridge they will have to lay off motorists and other people who work in river transportation.

The stevedores also know that they will suffer the effect of the low demand for cargo and passengers that move through the river, once the San Miguel Bridge is reopened.

“For us it is a very hard blow, you know that many families depend on that on river work and now we are left without work,” said Jean Carlos Andrade, president of the General Farfán motorcyclists’ union.

Meanwhile, the transporters of the San Miguel and General Farfán truck cooperatives that cover the Nueva Loja Puente San Miguel route are looking forward to the opening of the border crossing to begin to reactivate. During this time they have not been able to reach the bridge and the influx of passengers has dropped drastically because they use illegal crossings.

“With the bridge open, people will stop going through the illegal steps and we will have passengers to mobilize,” said Carlos Zamora, transporter for the Putumayo cooperative.

Border with Peru will remain closed

In the south of the country, the border with Peru will not open for now, although progress is being made, according to the Foreign Ministry. The merchants of Huaquillas, El Oro province, believe that the reopening of the international bridge would be a relief to its battered economy, although there is fear that an increase in COVID-19 infections will be unleashed, because on the Peruvian side there is no same vaccination level than in Ecuador.

“The Ecuadorian authorities have stated that on the Peruvian side the inhabitants of several cities have not been able to get vaccinated and this prevents the reopening of the bridge from being considered. On the Ecuadorian side (Huaquillas) we are vaccinated just over 80% of the population, ”said Freddy Balcazar, vice president of the Huaquillas Chamber of Commerce.

The leader points out that a large number of businesses had to close in Huaquillas and the impact reached 75% of merchants. “We could not pay the rents and the colleagues transferred their sales to their homes, obviously that sales fell and we are in debt,” he explained about the losses caused by the pandemic restrictions.

Huaquillas business leaders assure that smuggling and the presence of criminals increased, who still charge quotas to pass from one territory to another, through clandestine crossings.

On the Peruvian side, the impact has been greater. “More than 90% of the merchants were harmed, sales decreased considerably,” explained the president of the Aguas Verdes Chamber of Commerce, Gerardo Risco Morales. (I)