Colombian President Gustavo Petro during his inauguration. Photo: TELAM.
The president of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, issued new comments about the process of Colombia’s resumption of diplomatic relations with Venezuela.
During a statement to the press this Tuesday, August 9, Petro stated that his government has been working to normalize relations since before he took office. However, he clarified that it is a process that implies the opening of the border, and that the resumption of diplomatic relations can take at least two months.
When asked about the rumors regarding a meeting between the Colombian president and the Venezuelan president, Nicolás Maduro, Gustavo Petro refused to confirm any information.
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According to some Colombian media outlets, Gustavo Petro will visit Venezuela next weekend to meet with Maduro.
#ATENCIÓN | Gustavo Petro habla sobre el restablecimiento de relaciones con Venezuela y asegura revisar el tema de Monómeros "una empresa casi quebrada". pic.twitter.com/IRp0SHl1HL
— REDRADIOVE (@RedRadioVe) August 10, 2022
President Petro also indicated that Foreign Minister Álvaro Leyva has made contacts with Venezuela to initiate the opening of the border.
Journalists also questioned Petro about the announcement made by the Venezuelan Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino López regarding the renewal of military relations between the two countries.
“I have received instructions from the Commander-in-Chief of the FANB (Bolivarian National Armed Force), Nicolás Maduro, to immediately establish contact with the Colombian Minister of Defense (Iván Velásquez) to reestablish our military relations,” Padrino López stated on Tuesday.
In this regard, Petro stated that various forms of relations should be re-established, including military ones.
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We must prepare for the normalization of “commercial, social, family, and military” relations, said the Colombian president.
Another issue of tension with Colombia is the case of the subsidiary company of PDVSA, Monómeros. Gustavo Petro specified that it is almost bankrupt, but that the legal forms and the system of illegal US sanctions are still in force.
Supersociedades lifts intervention on Monómeros
Also this Tuesday, the Superintendency of Colombian Companies (Superintendencia de Sociedades) lifted the intervention measure imposed since September 2021 on the company Monómeros Colombovenezolanos, a subsidiary of the Venezuelan state-owned Pequiven, due to financial insolvency.
According a Supersociedades statement, the fertilizer producer “will move to the degree of surveillance supervision.” In the interpretation of the journalist Madelein García, Telesur correspondent in Caracas, this means that the newly installed government of Gustavo Petro will be able to take decisions about its status.
https://twitter.com/madeleintlSUR/status/1557459178783969295
The company, which has been controlled by agents associated with former deputy Juan Guaidó since 2019, celebrated the news on Twitter and thanked Supersociedades “for the trust” placed in the management team, which is weighed down by multiple complaints about alleged irregular handling and embezzlement.
The takeover of Monómeros, orchestrated by former Colombian President Iván Duque and the company’s board of imposter directors, has been criticized by Petro himself as an illegal operation.
(RedRadioVE) by Ana Perdigón
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
OT/JRE/SL
