The ties between the two countries deteriorated in 2019 when Iván Duque recognized Juan Guaidó as Venezuelan “president in charge”
The electoral victory of the left in Colombia created the conditions for both countries to rebuild their ties
To the rhythm of folk music, performed by a youth orchestra, Nicholas Maduro opened the doors of the Miraflores Palace to his Colombian colleague, Gustavo Petro. The visit, which caused discomfort in part of the Venezuelan opposition, is a consequence of the process of improvement of relationships which reached their lowest point in 2019, when Ivan Duke recognized Juan Guaidó as “president in charge”, in tune with the Administration of donald trump. After the assumption of Petro began very slowly to normalize the exchange in the common border of 2,200 kilometers. At the same time, Venezuela agreed to play the role of guarantor country and be one of the venues for the next negotiations between the Colombian government and the ELN, the Guevarist guerrilla group that has been operating since the mid-1960s.
Those precedents were not enough to justify the trip of the first left-wing president of Colombia to Caracas. The meeting between the two heads of state exceeded bilateral issues. Venezuela has agreed to rejoin the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR), harshly questioned by the madurismo. Petro, in this way, has shielded herself from the criticism that she has also received in her country about a supposed indulgence in relation to Venezuelan internal problems.
The Colombian president was received at the Maiquetía Simón Bolívar International Airport by the vice president, Delcy Rodriguez. He didn’t come alone. He was accompanied by Luis Ernesto Vargas, the Colombian ambassador to the Organization of American States (OAS), the continental body that Caracas abandoned when it extended a mantle of legitimacy to Guaidó’s representative.
Dialogue in Mexico
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Colombia, where 1.8 million Venezuelan immigrants live, who had left their country amid economic collapse and internal conflict, is particularly interested in reopening talks between the Maduro government and the opposition in Mexico to find a way out consensus to the crisis and celebrate the 2024 presidential election with renewed guarantees of transparency. That is an interest that Bogotá shares with Washington.
The border situation also calls for stronger measures from the two countries. Petro has been disappointed by the little trade flow since the barriers were lifted. The years of diplomatic cooling did nothing but boost smuggling and illegal trade circuits. Colombia hopes to add Venezuela to its agenda in defense of Amazon and in the framework of the preliminary meetings for COP 27.