Colombian President Gustavo Petro visited his authoritarian Venezuelan counterpart, Nicolas Maduro, for the first highest-level assembly since the migrant crisis began in 2015.
Petro’s scale in was part of ongoing attempts at bilateral relations between the governments of neighboring countries.
The last time a Colombian head of state met with Maduro in August 2014, when the Venezuelan president visited former President Juan Manuel Santos.
Maduro cut ties with Colombia in 2019 after a failure to topple his subsidized government through Petro’s predecessor, former President Ivan Duque.
According to the Colombian president’s office, Petro and Maduro continue the procedure to reopen the borders and join efforts to combat drug trafficking.
Maduro also agreed to take steps that would allow the Organization of American States to investigate human rights in Venezuela, the Colombian government said in a press release.
Finally, the two presidents discussed the Venezuelan government’s cooperation with efforts to maintain the Amazon rainforest in the south of both countries.
Before the visit, Petro said he would also talk about mass migration from Venezuela, but this thorny issue was overlooked in the press release issued after the assembly in Caracas.
The agreement to join the fight against transnational crime implies a reestablishment of ties between the intelligence agencies of the two countries.
The Colombian defense minister is already discussing with his Venezuelan counterpart the coordinated application of the law in the border region.
These efforts may have a primary effect on both countries’ illegal armed teams involved in foreign drug trade, illegal mining and money laundering.
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