This Tuesday, November 1, 2022 the first meeting will be held between the presidents of Colombia, Gustav Petro, and Venezuela, Nicholas Maduro, after the reopening of borders on September 26.
(See: Venezuelan border: Petro asked to close trails to boost trade).
It will also be the first meeting between leaders of both countries since relations were broken in 2019, when Ivan Duke He was the Colombian president.
According to the Presidency of the Republic of Colombia, the meeting will take place in Caracas, Venezuelan capital and where Petro will travel, along with his work team, to have lunch with Maduro.
Topics to be discussed during the meeting will be:
– The bilateral relationship between both countries.
– The reopening of borders.
– The re-entry of Venezuela to the inter-American human rights system.
(See: Colombian government studies ‘shielding’ trade pacts with Venezuela).
“The meeting is part of President Gustavo Petro’s leadership to boost the region’s economy and socialize his agenda in favor of the interests of the Latin American bloc and the protection of the Amazon, and as part of the preliminary meetings of COP 27“, explained the Presidency.
It is worth remembering that COP 27 is the UN climate conference, which will start on November 6 in Egypt.
During the presidential campaign and after his inauguration as President of Colombia, on August 7, Petro proposed to resume relations with Venezuela.
(See: Reopening of the Colombia-Venezuela border: balance of the first month).
At the end of September, both countries reopened their 2,200-kilometre borders as a first step in rapprochement.
Relations between Caracas and Bogotá broke down in 2019, when Duque (2018-2022) recognized the opposition leader Juan Guaido What “president in charge” of Venezuela for questioning the re-election of Maduro.
(See: Colombia – Venezuela: HRW asks Petro to defend the DD. H H.).
Movement of trucks on the border with Venezuela.
Petro came to power with an ambitious environmental, economic and social agenda, which foresees fiscal and environmental reforms and the termination of the internal conflict through different negotiations with the groups that remained in arms after the 2016 peace agreement with the already dissolved FARC guerrilla, converted into a political party.
(See: The keys to the air reopening between Colombia and Venezuela).
The agenda between Caracas and Bogotá is broad. Venezuela will be a “guarantor” and one of the venues for the forthcoming negotiations between the Colombian government and the ELN, the last known guerrilla group in the country.
PORTFOLIO AND AFP
