Colombia, Venezuela presidents to meet as ties keep improving | Politics News

Nicolas Maduro and Gustavo Petro to meet in Caracas as the neighbouring countries repair relationship severed in 2019.

The presidents of Colombia and Venezuela will meet for the first time in years, as the neighbouring countries continue to repair their relationship and push to deepen economic ties.

The talks in the Venezuelan capital, Caracas, on Tuesday between Colombia’s new left-wing President Gustavo Petro and Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro come just weeks after the two nations reopened key, shared border crossings.

Petro, who took office in August, had promised to reset Colombia’s ties to Venezuela, which were severed in 2019 due to political tensions and security issues along the border.

In a statement before Tuesday’s talks, Petro’s office said he and Maduro would discuss bilateral relations, reopening the border and reintegrating Venezuela into the inter-American human rights systems.

The meeting also comes as part of efforts to boost regional economies and protect the Amazon, it said.

Colombia and Venezuela re-established full diplomatic relations in late August, sending ambassadors to each other’s capitals.

“Relations with Venezuela should never have been severed. We are brothers and an imaginary line cannot separate us,” Colombia’s new envoy, Armando Benedetti, said at that time.

Caracas broke off relations with Bogota in 2019 after Venezuelan opposition activists tried to send aid trucks from Colombia in a move that Maduro’s government said was a front for an attempted coup.

Former right-wing Colombian President Ivan Duque also accused Venezuela of backing rebel groups operating along the countries’ 2,200km (1,367-mile) shared border, which has seen increased violence in recent years.

In March, Human Rights Watch accused Venezuelan soldiers of conducting joint operations with Colombian rebels in Venezuela’s Apure state.

The reopening of border crossings in September was welcomed by residents on both sides of the frontier who said they hoped it would bring much-needed economic activity to the area.

Other observers said they were optimistic it also would create safer conditions for migrants and refugees crossing the border.

Venezuela has seen a mass exodus in recent years amid a socioeconomic and security crisis, and more than seven million Venezuelan refugees and migrants now live in other countries, including Colombia.

Meanwhile, Venezuela, along with Chile and Cuba, will be a guarantor for planned negotiations between the Colombian government and the National Liberation Army (ELN), Colombia’s largest remaining rebel group.

While Bogota reached a deal with left-wing Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) rebels in 2016, the country has seen a surge in violence as FARC dissidents and other rebel groups battle for control of territory, especially in areas outside the state’s control.

Petro, a former rebel fighter himself, is pushing to end armed conflict in Colombia as part of a policy dubbed “total peace”.

The ELN has insisted that its central command has enough authority over fractured fighting units to negotiate a genuine peace with the government.