Colombian President Gustavo Petro attends a press conference in Bogotá, October 3, 2022. Mauricio Dueñas Castañeda (EFE)
Nicolás Maduro and Gustavo Petro will meet for the first time this Tuesday in Caracas. The presidents of Venezuela and Colombia will hold the first bilateral meeting since two months ago they resumed ties that had been suspended since 2019, when the then Colombian government recognized Juan Guaidó as the legitimate Venezuelan leader. Petro’s rise to power completely changed the approach to Venezuela, leading to the opening of the border and embassies. The two leaders will share a lunch that will be the ultimate confirmation that everything has changed between the two nations.
There are endless topics for discussion on the table. Maduro, isolated from the international sphere, wanted to approach Petro cautiously, but since asking him to be the guarantor of the peace negotiations with the ELN, his reluctance has evaporated. The leaders will talk about dialogue with the guerrilla, a group with which it is not easy to come to an agreement. Most Colombian presidents have tried in the last 50 years. At first, Petro did not want to include Chavismo in this discussion, an approach that was not at all realistic. The ELN has fluid relations with some leaders of the Venezuelan government and trusts their mediation more than any other government.
This visit also serves to allow Petro to personally ask Maduro to sell him the fertilizer company Monómeros. The two presidents have long talked about a contact that few know, a man who has a good relationship with both of them. Monómeros was a joint-stock company with capital from both countries. President Álvaro Uribe wanted to sell the Colombian stake, which Hugo Chávez took advantage of to take it over entirely. The company fell into the hands of the interim government of Guaidó because its headquarters were in the city of Barranquilla. Opposition politicians have mismanaged it despite Guaidó’s attempts to restore order. As a first gesture of goodwill between the two, Petro returned Monómeros to Maduro. Now he wants Maduro to sell it to him. The Colombian President believes it is imperative to control fertilizers for the benefit of farmers and ensure the country is self-sufficient in food.
Simón Bolívar International Bridge during the first month of the opening of the border between Colombia and Venezuela in Cúcuta Mario Caicedo (EFE)
Petro’s diplomatic skills will be measured by his ability to mediate between Washington and Caracas. The President has opened his hand to Maduro, convinced that the neighboring country’s lockdown is of no use to anyone. He is in line with this new tendency, which, following the failure of the Guaidó project, believes that the best way to find a way out of Venezuela’s political and economic crisis is through negotiations with the current authorities. Petro, like Joseph Biden, wants Chavismo to return to the negotiating table with the opposition in Mexico to set a date for 2024 general elections under international supervision. In exchange, he has already told Maduro that he would like him to return to the Inter-American human rights system, where Venezuelans unhappy with a judicial solution can find international protection.
Petro attaches the utmost importance to relations with Venezuela. Foreign Minister Álvaro Leyva’s task is not only to focus on negotiations with the ELN, but also on finding the perfect match with Caracas. Maduro has suddenly found a hatch through which he can attempt to revive the ill-fated Venezuelan government. He wants to sell gas to Colombia to finance himself, an aspect that clashes with Petro’s intention to minimize fossil fuel use during his tenure. And he watches in surprise as the White House approaches him to discuss oil amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. However, these concessions will not be free or forever. The international community hopes that the Chavista government will announce its return to the negotiating table in Mexico later this week and not stand still.
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