First change: 09/08/2022 – 11:02 am Last change: 09/08/2022 – 11:00 am
Caracas (AFP) – Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro on Sunday congratulated his Colombian counterpart Gustavo Petro after taking power and reiterated his willingness to rebuild ties with his neighbor shattered by years of tension.
“I extend my hand to the people of Colombia, President Gustavo Petro, to rebuild brotherhood based on respect and love between peoples,” said Maduro in a video recorded from his home in Caracas and published on his social networks became.
Maduro was not invited to the inauguration ceremony for Colombia’s first left-wing president. The outgoing government of Iván Duque, a staunch enemy of the Chavista president, was responsible for international invitations.
Maduro severed ties with Colombia in 2019 after Duque ignored his re-election and supported the proclamation of opposition leader Juan Guaidó as the country’s interim president.
The official resumption of relations is planned in the coming days, an approach that Maduro said will be “for the peace of Colombia and the peace of Venezuela”.
“There we were, the sword, Bolívar, the story,” Maduro said in a sports suit next to the TV, where the action continued. “A second chance, says President Petro, we must seize it,” Maduro continued, citing the Colombian President’s speech in the Plaza de Bolívar in Bogotá.
“Congratulations to all of Colombia, congratulations President Petro, good luck! God bless you.”
Both heads of state spoke by phone after the second round on June 19, and now on July 28 Foreign Minister Álvaro Leyva met his counterpart Carlos Faría in the Venezuelan state of Táchira, where one of the most important border crossings between Venezuela and Venezuela is located. and Colombia, closed due to tensions.
The meeting agreed on the gradual normalization of bi-national relations starting August 7 with the appointment of ambassadors and other diplomatic and consular officials.
Diplomatic friction meant that the borders were closed for a long time and only pedestrians could cross.
Accompanying the investiture in the border town of San Antonio (Táchira) were businessmen eagerly awaiting the reopening of commerce and sympathizers, who also enjoyed a concert “for peace and life” at one of the international bridges.
© 2022 AFP