Petro and Maduro meet in Venezuela. These are the key issues 4:23
(CNN Spanish) — In an unprecedented event in years, the presidents of Colombia and Venezuela meet this November 1 as part of Bogotá’s effort to restore ties with Caracas after years of broken bilateral ties.
Gustavo Petro and his team arrived in Caracas just before 2 p.m. to meet with his Venezuelan counterpart Nicolás Maduro at the first presidential meeting since the Colombian president arrived at the Casa de Nariño on August 7.
“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 preparatory meetings for the COP 27,” says a statement by the Colombian Presidency to announce the meeting.
The meeting is expected to take place around noon this Tuesday in Caracas, where Petro will have lunch with Maduro, according to Casa de Nariño.
a key meeting
The meeting comes at a key moment in restoring bilateral relations between Colombia and Venezuela, one of the main bets of the Petro government, with actions that began in August this year, first with the appointment of ambassadors in the two countries and then , restoration of border trade, closed for years.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro (left) and Venezuelan Transport Minister Ramón Velásquez shake hands during the protocol act to reopen the two countries’ borders on September 26, 2022. (Credit: YURI CORTEZ /AFP via Getty Images)
The meeting was hosted by the President of Venezuela’s ruling National Constituent Assembly, Diosdado Cabello, one of Chavismo’s strongmen.
“Let the dialogue come with the President of Colombia, welcome, let the dialogue come. Lots of pending things, how long has it been since neighboring presidents haven’t met,” Cabello said this Monday.
This is the first meeting between the Presidents of Colombia and Venezuela in years. The last time the two countries’ presidents met was in August 2016, when Maduro and then-President Juan Manuel Santos held a private meeting in Puerto Ordaz, Venezuela, with their respective foreign ministers, María Ángela Holguín and Delcy Rodríguez.
Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos and Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro last met privately in August 2016 in Puerto Ordaz, Venezuela. Foreign Ministers María Ángela Holguín and Delcy Rodríguez were present at this meeting. (Source: Colombian Ministry of Foreign Affairs)
At the time of the meeting between Santos and Maduro, a year had already passed since the borders were closed, in a decision by Venezuela following a confrontation between Venezuelan security forces and civilians, which Maduro attributed to “paramilitarism” in Colombia and for which he blamed former President Uribe , who at the time denied the allegations.
Venezuela also deported more than a thousand Colombian citizens living on Venezuelan territory in connection with this crisis.
The topics Petro and Maduro will discuss
Bilateral relations between the two countries will be the main topic of this meeting, according to the Colombian Presidency, as well as the reopening of borders, which began in September this year, and Venezuela’s re-entry into the Inter-American human rights system.
But Petro’s arrival in Venezuela this Tuesday is crucial because of another big bet by his government: peace talks with the ELN, as Venezuela is the host country and guarantor of this peace process that is expected to begin in the next few days.
On September 14, 2022, President Gustavo Petro asked Maduro to be a guarantor in an eventual peace process with the guerrilla group. A request that Maduro immediately agreed to.
The protocols agreed with the government of Juan Manuel Santos (2010-2018) stipulated that Venezuela was the agreed country for the ELN peace delegates to return in case the process failed or they had to return to consult with troops.
And the role of this country in the peace in Colombia was very important. In addition to being a facilitator, he has been an observer and accompanist in other attempts at peace talks with armed groups and the governments of Colombia, such as the peace signed with the FARC in 2016, the release of hostages in the first decade of 2000, and the M-19 peace talks in the 1990s.
The Petro government and the ELN reinstate the talks table at 4:01
The Amazon and Latin America, another key issue
In addition to bilateral issues such as politics, peace and trade, Petro and Maduro will also discuss two important issues for the region: the protection of the Amazon and “the interests of the Latin American bloc” are to be discussed at this meeting, according to the statement by the presidency from Colombia.
With the return of Luíz Inácio Lula Da Silva following his victory in Brazil’s elections this weekend Peter has spoken an “integrated clean-energy America’s electrical power grid” and “Latin American economic integration” as the Latin American bloc has now largely turned to left-wing governments. Besides, that’s what he said Scientific Research and the “Rescue” of the Amazon It will be one of the key issues with Brazil, a region it also shares with Venezuela.
And Diosdado Cabello has “imagined” a summit where Lula, Petro and Maduro will be present.
This is likely to be another step in restoring relations between the two countries, which have been at their worst in the past four years, particularly in 2019 when opposition activists tried to send aid trucks from Colombia. The Maduro government said it was a front for an attempted coup, Portal reported.
Previous governments in Bogotá have accused Maduro of harboring Colombian rebel groups and criminals, allegations he denies.
Bilateral trade was worth $7 billion in 2008 before then-Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez froze it in protest at a military deal between Bogota and Washington.
According to Colombian ambassador to Venezuela Armando Benedetti, trade between Colombia and Venezuela this year is enough $449.7 million, an increase of 95.5%.