Collection, study and analysis of historical documents, primary sources, which are preserved in twelve Venezuelan archives on the Colombian-Venezuelan binational relationship.

The study of Venezuela from Colombia implies advocating for the recognition of a neighborhood without limits, which unites the history and future of the countries above the dilemmas that may arise as a result of the foreign policy of the governments. Consistent with this objective, the Venezuelan Observatory of the Center for Political and International Studies of the University of Rosario has carried out research projects in specific areas in order to analyze the whole of the Venezuelan reality. As part of this, a project is being developed with the intention of analyzing the dynamics of Colombian-Venezuelan Binational Relations, as well as the way in which they are articulated and developed within the foreign policy of the States.

We are currently working on the historical-political analysis of the relations between the two countries, and for this reason, throughout 2011, documentary sources of the binational relationship have been searched for, identified and processed in different Colombian archives. Within the framework of this research, documents have been found that allow us to complement the analyses carried out so far, and even to broaden the interpretations made. As part of this experience, there has been a need to carry out the same work in the main Venezuelan archives in order to complete and deepen the investigation initiated.

Thus, the revision process of the Venezuelan archives, added to the one carried out in Colombia, will allow the development of a better and novel political-historical analysis of the relationship between the two States, constituting the raw material for different investigations, through a documentary bank that will allow the Venezuelan Observatory to fill a gap that exists.

Therefore, the present research project has been conceived with the specific purpose of identifying the historical documents, primary sources of the Colombo-Venezuelan relationship, that are conserved in the Venezuelan archives. And thus achieve the objective of: Collect, study and analyze these documents.

In this sense, the project as such presented below aims to: first, collect, classify and disseminate historical documents; second, establish a documentary bank for future research; and third, compare the collected documentary material with the primary and secondary sources existing in Colombia. Likewise, it will allow students to offer a course on the bilateral relationship between Colombia and Venezuela for the International Relations program; and the trips to be made will strengthen the Colombian-Venezuelan academic network with which the Observatory has carried out academic work in order to give continuity to the work done by the binational academic group. Finally, the process of training young researchers will be continued.
This research will present its results in an academic article in an indexed journal and in a research document with the transcription of the historical documents found in Venezuela, which will be the primary source of future research and will collaterally integrate the documentary bank. As already mentioned, among its results will also be the strengthening of the Semillero Formación en Investigación as well as the dynamization of the Colombo-Venezuelan Academic Network in which the Venezuelan Observatory participates.

What are the historical documents, primary sources of the Colombo-Venezuelan relationship, that are conserved in the Venezuelan archives, and that would allow to complement and deepen the existing studies in Colombia?
There are several reasons that justify the Venezuelan Observatory to undertake the task of reviewing Venezuelan archives in search of existing documentary material on the binational relationship.

The first reason is because to date no Colombian research center has looked globally in the Venezuelan archives for the documents on which the relationship is based. There are works that have done so partially and on specific periods or episodes, but at the time of conducting such research there were no technological tools to systematize and share with the national academic community the work done in the archive.

The second reason is directly related to the work carried out during the last year by the Venezuelan Observatory reviewing the Colombian archives in search of the documentation on which the binational relationship was built. This work has identified the urgent need to carry out the same research in the Venezuelan archives in order to fill the gaps that have arisen throughout the process.

The third reason is based on the importance for the Colombian academic community to be able to count on the documentary support that lies in the Venezuelan archives. At present, this material is not easily accessible to Colombian researchers who work on the Colombian-Venezuelan relationship from different angles. Most of the time, they have to resort to the texts of Cavellier, Vázquez Carrizosa and Londoño Paredes, which, despite their quality, continue to be a secondary source. To be able to extrapolate this information and share it on the page of the Venezuelan Observatory as a research document would be an important contribution of the University of Rosario to the Colombian nation.

A parallel reason for advancing research consists in one of the implicit objectives of the existence of the Venezuelan Observatory within the Faculties of Political Science and Government and International Relations, and is to give continuity to the training of researchers. The Venezuelan Observatory in its seven years of existence has trained four Young Researchers, two of them at the end of their processes continued working on topics related to their research, one of them in their doctoral studies in Germany, from a research in social policy that advanced, in 2007, in the framework of a project funded by the FIUR, and the other in their Master's studies, regarding the border issue. The last of the young researchers has not finished its process but has scheduled to begin their master's studies next year in the subject related to their research and currently has a column in Semana.com where it deals with Venezuelan issues.

Another parallel reason, which comes from the previous one, is the possibility of forming a relay generation. The projects financed by FIUR allow the Observatory to focus its efforts on the development of projects that, like the present one, stimulate the participation of the academic community. Currently, the Observatory is in the process of setting up a research seedbed made up of volunteer students, some of them of Venezuelan origin, who have participated in discussion and debate meetings organized by the Observatory. The research project is conceived so that the seedbed becomes an integral part of it, assigning them responsibilities and the means to learn by doing the job of research.

A final parallel reason for advancing this research lies in the opportunity to strengthen the binational academic network with which the members of the Venezuelan Observatory have worked and which aims to give continuity to the work of the Binational Academic Group. We believe it is important to highlight that within the framework of the latest research funded by FIUR in 2007, the Venezuelan Observatory was able to establish an academic network with which it first organized the celebration of the birth of Carlos Lleras Restrepo of Colombia and Rómulo Betancourt of Venezuela in 2008, "Two Democratic Transformers" and in a second instance allowed it to organize and edit jointly with a Venezuelan counterpart the book: Hugo Chávez a decade in power, published in 2010 and in which the most recognized academics participated in the different topics that make up the text.

The results of the research will be a Research Document from the Center for Political and International Studies -CEPI- and an academic article that can be published in a national and/or international journal indexed at the end of the research process. At the same time, the work done will be used to create a documentary bank on the binational relationship and to strengthen the database of Venezuelan contacts of interest to the Observatory.

In the same way, in function of the general objective of the Venezuelan Observatory, the results, in addition to being presented through the research document and the academic article, will be disclosed to the general public through the presentation of papers at events, opinion articles for the written media, and participation in television and radio programs by the members of the Observatory. The target population of the work carried out by the Observatory is the general public and these activities contribute to the "popularisation of research".

The results obtained will also make it possible to create a binational Colombian-Venezuelan relationship course offered by the members of the Observatory to the students of the University. This course would become a second part of the class "Venezuelan Studies" which is part of the academic offer of the Faculties since the second semester of 2006 and aims to study, understand and analyze the political reality of the country and its different expressions in the political, economic, social, cultural, military and international spheres.

Finally, through this research the research seedbed will be formed, a new assistant for the Venezuelan Observatory. This is how the results are related to the social appropriation of knowledge and to the formation of future generations.