Colombia’s incoming government and Venezuela will appoint ambassadors to the two countries’ capitals after years without diplomatic relations and will work to boost security along their shared border, officials said on Thursday. (https://news.yahoo.com/colombia-venezuela-appoint-ambassadors-reopening-202837887.html) The plan to appoint ambassadors was outlined in a joint declaration made by Venezuela’s Foreign Minister, Carlos Faria, and Alvaro Leyva, the designated foreign minister of Colombia’s next president, Gustavo Petro, following a meeting in the border city of San Cristobal. The officials “expressed their willingness to move forward with a work agenda for the gradual normalization of bi-national relations starting next August 7 with the appointment of ambassadors and other diplomatic and consular officials,” Leyva told reporters. Petro, who will become Colombia’s first leftist president on Aug. 7, plans to fully reopen the border with neighboring Venezuela, following a breakdown in the two countries’ relations since 2015.