Colombian President Gustavo Petro (left) and Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro (right) hold a press conference at Miraflores Palace, Caracas, November 18, 2023. Photo: Pedro Rances Mattey/AFP.
Venezuela and Colombia reach a number of agreements on various issues of common interest, including combating illegal mining in the Amazon rainforest and how to attend to migration. The agreements were reached on Saturday, November 18, during the bilateral meeting between Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his Colombian counterpart Gustavo Petro in Miraflores Palace, Caracas. This is the fourth bilateral meeting between the two leaders since Petro took office in August last year.
“Now much more can be done at the level of economy, trade, integration and tourism,” President Maduro said after the meeting, noting that the two countries are advancing “step by step in what should be a relationship of peace, cooperation, and prosperity.”
The Venezuelan head of state explained that in the meeting with the Colombian president, several agreements were reached on environmental matters, including combating the threat of the El Niño phenomenon. “We have reached important consensus for joint measures” to be prepared for it, he said.
He also highlighted the will of both governments to combat illegal mining in the Amazon rainforest. He reported that agreements are being promoted in the Amazon to consolidate investments for energy security, gas and oil industry development, and the fight against predatory illegal mining.
The two countries have also reached agreements on investments for the gas and oil sector, and tourism. New air routes between Venezuela and Colombia will be announced soon to boost binational tourism.
President Maduro further announced that agreements were reached on the issue of electricity supply for the western region of Venezuela. This region has been heavily affected by electricity blackouts after the imposition of illegal sanctions by the US government in its failed attempt to overthrow the government of Venezuela.
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Venezuela ratifies support for peace in Colombia
During a joint statement to the press, President Maduro ratified Venezuela’s support for the Total Peace project of Colombia, and announced that the Venezuelan government will do everything necessary to achieve peace in Colombia.
On the matter of binational trade, President Maduro commented that thanks to the opening of the border with Colombia, Venezuela has been able to boost its economy and make progress in strengthening binational trade. “We have seen a tremendous increase in trade and commercial exchange,” he added.
Venezuela reactivating the Colombian economy
The president of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, stated that Venezuela is becoming one of the engines of the reactivation of the Colombian economy. “If things go well, if we manage to carry out the common efforts properly, Venezuela will be an engine of the Colombian economy itself,” he noted.
President Petro also highlighted Colombia’s willingness to contribute to the mechanisms to regularize migration.
Both presidents proposed an agreement with the United States on the Darien forest, a dangerous region on the Colombia-Panama border that thousands of migrants cross on their way to the United States.
“It is a passage through which no human being should actually go,” President Petro remarked during the joint press conference. “Trying to reach a paradise, you find a wall, concentration camps, even prisons, and forcible return without rights… We must reach an agreement with the United States.”
Some analysts have questioned the lack of infrastructure in the Darien forest and its impact on migration flows. For years, this lack of roads and infrastructure has been explained as the result of ecological concerns. However, for many analysts, it is just an excuse designed by the United States, that has control over Panama for decades, and the real motive is to prevent migration and to achieve its geopolitical goals.
“What can be more ecologically disastrous than the construction of the Panama Canal, and the US forced Panama to secede from Colombia in order to make it possible,” an analyst commented to Orinoco Tribune.
President Petro also advocated joining efforts to confront the climate crisis. “We believe that reaching an agreement helps us more successfully mitigate what is to come,” said Petro.
(Últimas Noticias) by Carlos Eduardo Sánchez, with Orinoco Tribune content
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
OT/JRE/SC
