USA said on Wednesday that respect the will of the new Colombian president, Gustavo Petroto restore diplomatic relations with the Venezuelan government of Nicolás Maduro while reiterating its commitment to “regain democracy” in Venezuela.
“We respect the sovereign right of governments to establish diplomatic relations,” a spokesman for the Department of State When asked about the appointment of Armando Benedetti as the new Colombian ambassador in Venezuela.
“We also call on democratic governments to respect democratic norms that have been violated by dictatorial regimes like that of Maduro in Venezuelaadded the same source.
Colombia and Venezuelawhich share a 2,219 kilometer border, have not had diplomatic relations since they broke up on February 23, 2019 by order of Maduro, in the midst of an escalation of tensions with his Colombian counterpart at the time, Ivan Dukefor the latter’s support for the Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido.
The new Colombian presidenthowever, appointed last Thursday the former senator Armando Benedetti as the new ambassador to Venezuela, while Maduro announced to former Foreign Minister Félix Plasencia as the new Venezuelan representative in Colombia.
After these announcements, Petro affirmed that the opening of the common border must be extended to commerce and not only to people crossings.
The spokesman for Department of State said the United States remains “strongly committed to the Venezuelan people” and that it will continue working with the international community “to support the restoration of democracy and the rule of law” in the South American country.
The government of Joe Biden, which recognizes Guaidó as interim president of Venezuelaconsiders that “the mismanagement of Nicolás Maduro has led Venezuelans to one of the worst economic and humanitarian crises outside of a war in modern history.
The spokesman recalled that his country has provided since 2017 humanitarian aid for Venezuela worth more than 1,900 million dollarsand asked that there be no “obstacles” that prevent the entry of this aid to the South American nation.
