The President of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro (d) and the President of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, speak at the end of a meeting this Saturday in Caracas (Venezuela)./MIGUEL GUTIERREZ (EFE)
Nicolás Maduro and Gustavo Petro met this Saturday in Caracas for the fifth time in the last year, maintaining a relationship that has brought the former international recognition and the latter one of the greatest achievements of their government. In a joint press conference held at the end of the meeting at Miraflores Palace, the presidents spoke of implementing a bilateral energy integration plan that would benefit both countries. “It is very likely that Ecopetrol will become a partner of PDVSA in the exploitation of gas fields in Venezuela and oil fields,” Petro explained.
The Colombian president had justified the decision a few moments earlier: “We will bring remaining energy and raw materials from Venezuela to make Colombian gasoline cheaper and advance the transition to clean energy through gas.” Since taking office, Petro has accelerated the energy transition towards decarbonization its economy, but over time it has been made clear that this will be done gradually and in an orderly manner. The Venezuelan economy, in turn, is largely dependent on oil revenues, especially now that it has received a license from the United States to allow PDVSA to operate outside international sanctions.
The topic of migration was also discussed, with a particular focus on the situation of the Darién Gap. Petro has proposed, as he did at the migrant summit in Palenque a few weeks ago, an agreement with the United States so that immigrants arriving at the border from the south can be returned to their country of origin. Particularly affected are Venezuelans, who for the first time in history have exceeded the number of people crossing the Rio Grande. This repatriation, explains Petro, must be promoted by a “humanization program” developed by Washington, which provides for compensation for migrants returning to their country so that they can improve their situation when they return to their country.
Neither Petro nor Maduro referenced Venezuela’s political moment in their public statements. Petro has strongly supported negotiations between the Chavista government and the opposition, even mediating with Joe Biden in the White House on the matter. To open himself up to easing oil and gas sanctions, Maduro has given his word that presidential elections will be held in the second half of 2024 and has allowed the opposition to organize primaries in which they were overwhelmingly elected. , Maria Corina Machado. However, Machado remains disqualified from the Chavismo-controlled institutions and was unable to participate in these elections today, straining relations between all parties.
Petro, who was once disqualified as mayor of Bogota by Colombia’s comptroller’s office – a decision the IACHR later revoked – vehemently defends that it is the ballot boxes that should determine who governs, not administrative decisions that can be manipulated. When Machado’s disqualification became known, Petro publicly defended her, statements that certainly did not sit well with Chavismo. Although Petro’s critics accuse him of being condescending to Maduro, the president has always insisted that there must be a democratic and agreed transition in Venezuela that offers guarantees to both Chavismo and the opposition, after elections that offer all the guarantees .
Petro was accompanied in Caracas by Chancellor Álvaro Leyva; the First Lady, Verónica Alcocer; the Minister of Energy and Mines, Andrés Camacho; the Environment Minister Susana Muhamad; and Social Prosperity Director Laura Sarabia. Sarabia returns to the frontline of the government after having to leave it a few months ago for spying on his son’s nanny, a case that the public prosecutor’s office is currently investigating. The president didn’t want to lose her on his side and made her part of the hard core again, which makes the most important decisions in the state.
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Colombia and Venezuela broke off relations during Iván Duque’s government but resumed them as soon as Petro came to power more than a year ago. The Colombian president said on this occasion that leaving the neighboring country was “a deep stupidity” and was only possible “when ideology and sectarianism flood the soul and heart.” “In many parts of the world there are experiences in which, despite ideological, cyclical and personal distancing, leaders never allow relations to break down and they never commit the foolishness of paralyzing their trade flows.”
Finally, Maduro and Petro discussed the issue of peace that affects all of Venezuela, where the majority of ELN guerrilla leaders live. In theory, the countries will work to create tourist destinations in the Amazon basin, where criminal groups currently operate. “A predator-free economy could be built, a clean economy that would bring much more money to the residents of both countries than the exploitation of illegal mining-based economies that exploit the Amazon rainforest,” Petro said. Maduro responded that he would fully support the peace that Petro advocates because “the peace of Colombia is the peace of Venezuela.”
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