First modification:
In their first meeting since Colombia and Venezuela re-established their bilateral relations last August, Presidents Gustavo Petro and Nicolás Maduro advocated the reintegration of Venezuela into the Andean Community of Nations (CAN) and the Inter-American Human Rights System. The Colombian president expressed his willingness to “start over” after three years of “unnatural” rupture.
You can listen to the report from our correspondent in Caracas, Víctor Amaya.
Venezuela joined the CAN in 1973 and withdrew from the block in 2006, by decision of former President Hugo Chávez, after free trade agreements between Colombia and Peru with the United States. The deceased leader then described the CAN as a “great lie” and opted, instead, for Mercosur. Today, 16 years later, his successor bets on his return.
“Good news for South America, good news for the CAN!” Maduro celebrated.
Petro also asked that Venezuela “can join the Inter-American Human Rights System”, an organ of the Organization of American States (OAS), an entity from which Maduro withdrew in 2019 due to the lack of knowledge of the Secretary General, Luis Almagro, of his government.
The Colombian president also mentioned that it is “Unhistorical for Colombia and Venezuela to separate” and that the border shared by the two countries is in “the hands of the mafia and criminal organizations“. In addition, he added:
“We are going to live a new phase that must generate a true American integration in practice, in facts. We will help each other in a humanitarian fight: the defense and recovery of the Amazon jungle as a fundamental pillar for human existence.”
Venezuela broke diplomatic relations with Colombia after the right-wing government of Iván Duque recognized opposition leader Juan Guaidó as “president in charge” due to questions about Maduro’s re-election.
