Venezuela’s interim President Delcy Rodriguez and Colombian President Gustavo Petro have agreed to hold a bilateral meeting to discuss security issues, as well as economic and energy matters.
The meeting, which is set to take place in the border city of Cucuta, aims to promote a relationship of understanding and shared benefits for the wellbeing of both countries, according to Rodriguez.
Speaking in La Guajira, Colombia’s northernmost border region with Venezuela, Petro said he had invited Rodriguez to discuss energy cooperation and infrastructure projects, without providing further details on the timing of the meeting.
Regional Context
Colombia and Venezuela share a border that stretches across more than 2,200 kilometres, shaping their often fragile relationship, which has grown more complex in recent years amid the arrival of nearly three million Venezuelan migrants and refugees in Colombia.
Rodriguez, who was formally sworn in as acting president on January 5, has overseen reforms including a new law that opens Venezuela’s nationalised oil sector to foreign investment, a key priority for the US.
The US has begun easing some sanctions to facilitate oil production under the new administration, marking a renewed period of international diplomacy for Venezuela, long isolated by US sanctions.
International Diplomacy
On Wednesday, Venezuela hosted Qatar’s prime minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, while top US military officials, including General Francis Donovan and Pentagon leader Joseph Humire, arrived for an unpublicised visit.
Those visits follow a meeting last week between Rodriguez and US Energy Secretary Chris Wright, the first official from Trump’s cabinet to visit Venezuela, and come as US President Donald Trump has hinted at a possible diplomatic trip to Venezuela.
Source: Al Jazeera
