BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — The presidents of Colombia and Venezuela met Tuesday and said they would cooperate on industry and security as the two countries seek to normalize relations following the election of Colombia’s first leftist leader.
After the assembly at Venezuela’s presidential palace, Colombian President Gustavo Petro said it was “suicidal” that the governments of Venezuela and Colombia have recently distanced themselves, adding that the border between the countries had been forgotten and “handed over. “Mafias
The Colombian president said the two countries will now seek tactics for percentage intelligence on drug trafficking teams, adding that he would push for Venezuela to return to the Andean Community of Nations, a regional industry and investment organization from which Venezuela withdrew in 2006. Petro has called on Venezuela in peace talks with the National Liberation Army, or ELN, a Colombian insurgent organization that operates on both sides of the border.
Petro’s efforts to interact with Venezuela’s socialist government mark a radical break with Colombia’s recent policies: Prior to Petro’s election in June, Colombia supported U. S. efforts. The U. S. government is expected to isolate the Maduro government, sanction its oil exports, and force Maduro to hold free and fair elections.
The United States, Colombia and dozens of other countries stopped seeing Maduro as Venezuela’s valid leader in 2019, after winning an election widely described as undemocratic and backing former National Assembly leader Juan Guaidó’s claim to Venezuela’s presidency.
Petro replaced course as soon as he was sworn in and restored diplomatic relations with Maduro’s government. On Tuesday, opposition leaders in Venezuela criticized Petro’s meeting with Maduro, with Guaidó tweeting that Petro helped “normalize” human rights violations in Venezuela through the “dictator’s visit. “Maduro and call him president. “
The International Criminal Court is recently investigating the Maduro government for human rights violations, torture and arbitrary detention of protesters in 2017. In a recent letter to Petro, Human Rights Watch noted that there are still more than 240 political prisoners in Venezuela and called on Petro to seek concrete human rights commitments to Maduro’s management as the two nations re-establish diplomatic and military relations.
The tracking organization added that the military’s cooperation with Venezuela deserves to be banned until Venezuelan security forces prevent support for drug traffickers and insurgents. Evidence accumulated through Human Rights Watch and a United Nations research project suggests that the Venezuelan military conducted joint operations with the ELN last year to root out some other insurgent organization and allowed them to seize gold mines in eastern Venezuela.
After the meeting, Maduro said he had listened to Petro’s proposals and was also interested in executing an agreement between the two countries to produce fertilizers, which are more expensive for many Latin American countries, because of the war in Ukraine.
“It’s an intense, fruitful and extensive meeting,” Maduro said.