Friendship, moderation and criticism have been the general tone that has marked the bond between the presidents of Venezuela y Colombia, Nicolas Maduro y Gustavo Petrorespectively, when two years have passed since their first official meeting, after the resumption of diplomatic relations, which came with the change of Government in the Andean country.
On November 1, 2022, Petro and Maduro met for the first time – at least, publicly – at the Miraflores presidential palace, in Caracas, where a tone of moderation and cordiality reigned, which ended with a joint declaration of 11 points that included three bilateral agreements.
Then, the leaders expressed “their high complacency and satisfaction” with the resumption of their relations, which materialized with the arrival of Petro to power, after almost four years of rupture due to the ignorance of Maduro’s legitimacy by the previous Colombian Executive. , led by Ivan Duque.
Although the tone of both leaders has generally been one of mutual respect, it has also been full of calls for attention, such as when Petro asked Maduro, on more than one occasion, to return to office. Inter-American Human Rights Systema request that to date has not been attended to by the Chavista leader.
Support
The president of Colombia has advocated for Venezuela on various occasions, such as that in November 2022 when he asked the United States to eliminate the reward system for helping to capture representatives of Chavismo, as a way of collaborating in the dialogue process. that was taking place then between the Executive and the opposition of the Caribbean country.
Six months later, Petro pointed out that the international community’s sanctions on Venezuela have led to poverty in the country, where society has gone, he said, “from living well to not having a plate of food.”
Meanwhile, Maduro has also shown signs of esteem for his Colombian counterpart, with support for the negotiation process between the Executive of the Andean country and the guerrilla groups of the National Liberation Army (ELN) and the dissent of the FARCwhich have had Caracas as one of their headquarters.
In June 2023, the Chavista president ratified his “unrestricted support” for this process that – he maintained – contributes to achieving “definitive and true peace” for Colombians.
Likewise, Maduro came to describe Petro as “guarantor” of the negotiation between his Government and the Venezuelan opposition, and in December 2023 he repudiated the death threats against the Colombian president and his family.
Differences
The presidential elections in Venezuela revealed the differences in criteria between both presidents, when Petro questioned, in June 2023, the political disqualification of the opposition leader Maria Corina Machadowhich prevents him from holding elected office until 2036.
Since that moment, criticism has been increasing, especially that of Petro towards Maduro, since in April 2024, the Colombian described this disqualification measure that prevented Machado from running for the presidential elections on July 28 as an “anti-democratic coup.” despite the fact that he won the primaries organized by the majority opposition with 93% of the support.
Maduro tried to tone down this discrepancy by saying that there should not be a scandal over any differences there may be, and reiterated that nothing will separate Venezuela and Colombia.
After this disagreement, both presidents met behind closed doors for the fifth and last time, since 2022, in Caracas, and Petro reported that on that visit to Venezuela he also met with representatives of the Venezuelan opposition.
After the presidential elections, in which the National Electoral Council (CNE) proclaimed Maduro as the winner, the distance between both leaders has been marked even more, as Petro has insisted that he will not recognize his counterpart’s victory until the disaggregated results are published, as established in the official schedule, and that three months later he will not has been fulfilled. EFE (I)
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