Colombian President Petro to Chair Summit on Venezuela

On Tuesday, Colombian President Gustavo Petro will meet with representatives of some 20 countries in a conference aimed at contributing to the resumption of dialogue between the Venezuelan government and its political opposition.

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The "Bogota Summit" will include representatives from Argentina, Barbados, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, France, Germany, Honduras, Italy, Mexico, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Saint Vincent & the Grenadines, Turkey, South Africa, the United Kingdom, United States and the European Union.

The event will begin at 11:00 local time at the Foreign Ministry in the capital city, where Foreign Minister Alvaro Leyva will offer statements to the press at the end of the Summit.

Hours before the start of the meeting, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro demanded the lifting of all coercive measures imposed against his country, which is the main demand of the Bolivian people to those who participate in the Bogota Summit.

Since becoming president in August 2022, Gustavo Petro has met four times with President Maduro, reopened the land border with the neighboring country, and has personally committed to influencing the resolution of the Venezuelan political situation.

Just a few days ago, he stressed that the Bogota Summit seeks to unlock the negotiations on the Venezuelan situation in order to achieve the lifting of all coercive measures against the Bolivarian nation.

The last dialogues between the Venezuelan government and the political opposition, which took place in Mexico between August 2021 and November 2022, ended with an agreement for the release of US$3 billion in Venezuelan assets that remain blocked abroad. This commitment, however, was never fulfilled.