Venezuela, Colombia revive talks as Caracas urges end to U.S. sanctions
Caracas– Senior officials from Venezuela and Colombia met in Caracas on Friday to discuss security, trade and energy cooperation, with acting Venezuelan President Delcy Rodriguez urging the United States to lift sanctions on Venezuela during the first in-person bilateral engagement between the neighbors since the removal of former president Nicolas Maduro earlier this year.
Rodriguez described the meetings with Colombian ministers as productive and said closer cooperation between the two countries could generate economic benefits while strengthening coordination along their shared border.
The talks marked the first high-level face-to-face engagement between the governments since Maduro’s ouster in early January and came amid a shift in Venezuela’s political landscape and renewed diplomatic contact with the United States.
Rodriguez said discussions centered on energy collaboration, cross-border trade and regional security.Venezuela is planning to repair a pipeline to resume gas exports to Colombia, part of broader efforts by the acting government to revive economic activity and attract foreign investment.
Rodriguez, who previously served as vice president, has been courting investors in Venezuela’s oil and mining sectors as her administration seeks to stabilize the country following Maduro’s capture by U.S. forces.She also used the meeting to call for the lifting of U.S. sanctions, addressing remarks to U.S. President Donald Trump.
“Unilateral coercive measures against the Venezuelan people affect the peoples of our Latin America,” Rodriguez said, urging Washington to end sanctions imposed on Caracas.
Among the visiting Colombian officials was Defense Minister Pedro Sanchez, who met with Venezuelan counterpart Vladimir Padrino to coordinate security strategies along the countries’ 2,200-kilometer (1,370-mile) border.
Foreign ministers Rosa Villavicencio of Colombia and Yvan Gil of Venezuela also discussed cooperation on diplomatic and economic issues.
Rodriguez said both sides had agreed on the need for closer information sharing to address cross-border crime.
“We have a very active border and we are calling for immediate coordination and permanent exchange of information in order to combat drug trafficking,” she said.
Rodriguez had initially been expected to hold talks with Colombian President Gustavo Petro in what would have been her first presidential-level bilateral meeting since taking office.
Both governments said that engagement was canceled because of “force majeure,” without providing further details.
Washington has repeatedly urged Colombia to strengthen efforts against drug trafficking. Petro has said authorities under his administration have recorded record drug seizures during his tenure.
