Presidents To Meet For First Time Since Colombia, Venezuela Cut Ties

Bogot�, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 1st Nov, 2022 ) :The leaders of Colombia and Venezuela will hold talks in Caracas Tuesday, the first meeting at presidential level since the neighbors reestablished diplomatic ties after a three-year break, the presidency in Bogota said.

Colombia's leftist new president Gustavo Petro will meet counterpart Nicolas Maduro to discuss "the bilateral relationship between the two countries, the reopening of borders and Venezuela's re-entry into the inter-American human rights system," Petro's office said in a statement.

Venezuela broke off diplomatic relations in 2019 after Colombia's conservative then-president Ivan Duque expressed support for opposition leader Juan Guaido -- recognized by dozens of countries as the victor in 2018 elections claimed by Maduro.

Embassies and consulates in both countries were closed, and flights between the neighbors grounded.

Since Petro succeeded Duque in August, Colombia's first ever left-wing president has moved to mend relations with Venezuela's populist leftist government.

Caracas and Bogota formally reestablished diplomatic relations on August 29 by sending ambassadors to each other's capitals.

Last month, the countries reopened their shared 2,200-kilometer (1,350-mile) border to vehicles transporting goods -- considered the first step toward the resuming commercial relations worth about $7.2 billion in 2008.

The neighbors share a border infested with armed groups fighting over lucrative drug resources and routes, and have announced their intentions to restore military relations.

The presidency statement said the aim of Tuesday's meeting was to "boost the economy of the region" and "the protection of the Amazon" which they share with other South American countries.

Petro was elected on a platform of ambitious environmental, economic and social change, and making peace with armed groups that continue fighting despite Colombia's 2016 peace deal.

Venezuela will be a guarantor and host for planned negotiations between the government in Bogota and the ELN guerrilla group.