Agencies/Quito

Presidents Juan Manuel Santos of Colombia and Nicolas Maduro of Venezuela have reached an agreement to solve the border crisis between the South American neighbours that has affected thousands of Colombians who lived in Venezuela prior to the tensions.
At a five-hour meeting in Quito, they agreed among others to an immediate return of the ambassadors pulled out of each other’s capitals in the tensions of recent weeks. An investigation is to be launched on the state of the common border.
Ministerial teams are to meet today in Caracas to discuss further details of the gradual normalisation of ties.
“We are united in the fight against criminal gangs, smuggling and drug trafficking. We are also united in the goal to improve welfare of residents on both sides of the border,” Santos was quoted as saying after the meeting in the Colombian daily El Tiempo.
Maduro described the meeting as “a new beginning” where peace and sensible attitudes prevailed.
“Common sense, dialogue and peace between our peoples and our countries have triumphed,” Maduro said. “It has been a very honest, very clear meeting,” he said, according to El Tiempo.
Colombia has denounced forced displacements, torture and sexual abuse by Venezuelan forces against Colombian citizens within Venezuela.
Tensions increased after three Venezuelan soldiers were injured in a border clash on August 19 that Maduro blamed on a right-wing Colombian paramilitary group, prompting him to close the border.
Thousands of Colombians have crossed the border back into Colombia, including more than 1,000 who were expelled by Venezuelan authorities, the Colombian government said. A further 20,000 are believed to have returned to Colombian soil for fear of more violent repression.
Smuggling of subsidised foodstuffs and petrol is rife in the area.  Venezuela is immersed in a severe economic crisis complete with rampant inflation and shortages of food and everyday items that leads to long lines in stores. It accuses Colombia of waging economic war on it.
“Colombia is not to blame for Venezuela’s problems, and the problems we have on the border require co-operation from both countries,” Santos had said on Twitter before the meeting.
Maduro arrived first at Carondelet Palace, the Ecuadorian presidential palace, and he was followed by Santos. The two men were welcomed by Uruguayan President Tabare Vazquez, as current president of the Union of South American Nations (Unasur), and by the host, Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa.
“This is Latin American union, one big family,” Correa said of the agreement.