Bogota, July 28 (RHC)-- Colombian Foreign Minister Maria Angela Holguin says that she and her Venezuelan counterpart Delcy Rodriguez will meet August 4 to discuss the possibility of reopening their countries common border.

Holguin said that hopefully by then, authorities from both countries will have reached and adopted an agreement to conclude this process.  She said: "We've been working very, very hard in recent weeks at all levels of the various entities of the two countries to open the border as soon as possible."

Holguin also said that the two countries are seeking to ensure a “different, legal and secure border that will give opportunities to all people living in it.”  Immigration and customs authorities, as well as military and police officials from both countries have been holding bilateral meetings over the past months.

The Simon Bolivar bridge, which links Venezuela's San Antonio del Tachira with the Colombian city of Cucuta, has been intermittently opened in order to allow Venezuelans to cross and buy supplies and medicines.  Venezuela is suffering from one of its worst political and economic crises, fueled largely by a right-wing opposition bent on economic sabotage and seeing the government fail, with some members even calling for a coup.

In August 2015, Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro closed about 100 kilometers of the border between Ureña and San Antonio del Tachira after an ambush led by Colombian paramilitaries critically injured three Venezuelan soldiers and one civilian.