The United States wants to work with Gustavo Petro, who tomorrow, Sunday will take possession as president of Colombia, to achieve “a peaceful solution” in Venezuela, a spokesman for the White House National Security Council told Efe.
“Colombia has generously received Venezuelan migrants and we look forward to working constructively and respectfully with the new president of Colombia on a wide range of issues of shared interest, including a peaceful solution in Venezuela,” said the spokesperson.
Petro wants diplomatic relations between Colombia and Venezuela, broken for more than three years, to be restored, and the two countries are expected to exchange ambassadors as soon as the new Colombian government is installed.
Relations between the two neighbors, who share a 2,219-kilometer border, broke down in February 2019 after opposition leader Juan Guaidó -supported by Colombian President Iván Duque- tried to enter Venezuela with humanitarian aid donated by the government. of Donald Trump.
The US continues to recognize Guaidó as interim president
The US spokesman reiterated that, regardless of what Colombia does, the Joe Biden government continues to recognize Guaidó as interim president of Venezuela.
He recognized that, at the regional level, there is a “diversity of views” on whether or not diplomatic relations should be established with the Maduro government; but he argued that the majority of the international community is in favor of a dialogue that leads to a “peaceful solution to the country’s political and humanitarian crisis.”
In this regard, he stressed the importance of holding “free and fair elections” in Venezuela.
After arriving at the White House in January 2021, Biden decided to maintain the recognition of Guaidó as interim president that his predecessor, Donald Trump, expressed in 2019, but during these months he has not made Venezuela a priority of his foreign policy.
On the contrary, Biden has focused on China, which he sees as his great competitor for world hegemony.
At Petro’s inauguration, the US leader has sent a delegation that will be made up, among others, of the administrator of the Agency for International Development (Usaid), Samantha Power, and the adviser for Latin America of the White House National Security Council, John Gonzalez.
Biden called Petro after he won Colombia’s presidential election in June and reaffirmed his desire to collaborate on issues such as climate change, public health and the implementation of the 2016 peace accords.