CARACAS: Venezuela on Friday reopened its borders with Brazil and the island of Aruba, a top official said, both of which were closed amid attempts by the opposition to bring in humanitarian aid.
"The borders with Brazil and Aruba are open again," vice president for the economy Tareck El Aissami announced in a televised address, adding that the borders with two other Dutch islands, Bonaire and Curacao, remain closed.
Venezuela's relationship with Brazil has soured following the January inauguration of far-right president Jair Bolsonaro.
He has spoken out strongly against Venezuela's socialist President Nicolas Maduro, but rejected military intervention in his northern neighbor, where a severe economic crisis has caused shortage of food and basic goods.
"We are reaching out to establish a sincere dialogue" with Brazil and Aruba, also a Dutch territory, El Aissami said in his address.
Earlier on Friday, Brazilian Foreign Minister Ernesto Araujo called the arrest this week of Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido's deputy an "act of desperation" by Maduro.
"We are very concerned... by the (Venezuelan) regime's repression of the democratic opposition, which is no longer the opposition but is a legitimate government," Araujo told reporters in Warsaw alongside his Polish counterpart.
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