The president of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, said this Wednesday (23) that negotiations between the dictator Nicolás Maduro and the Venezuelan opposition will resume on Friday ( 25).
“On November 25 and 23, the dialogues between the government of Maduro and the Venezuelan opposition will be restarted”, wrote the Colombian head of state on Twitter, without giving details.
The dialogue, which took place since August 2021 in Mexico, was suspended three months later by an official decision, in protest of the extradition of Colombian businessman Álex Saab – Maduro’s alleged figurehead – to the United States.
O Colombian president participated in previous conversations held last week in Paris, at the World Peace Forum, which was also attended by the presidents of Argentina, Alberto Fernández, and France, Emmanuel Macron.
Also the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Colombia, Álvaro Leyva Du frog; Norwegian Chancellor Anniken Huitfeldt; the head of the Venezuelan delegation for dialogue, Jorge Rodríguez; and the representative of the opposition, Gerardo Blyde.
After that meeting in Paris, Petro said the end of sanctions against Venezuela and a general amnesty for elections that could be held in 2024 would be fundamental to revitalize the dialogue table.
However, after the Paris meeting two weeks ago, Blyde rejected the proposal. “There are issues of crimes against humanity and human rights violations that are non-negotiable,” said the opposition representative.
Since Petro became president of Colombia, the relationship with Venezuela has changed and the two countries resumed diplomatic relations broken off in February 2019.
Last Monday, the Colombian government and the National Liberation Army (ELN) guerrillas set up a dialogue table in Caracas to resume peace negotiations that had been suspended for four years and four months.
In this new stage of negotiations, Cuba and Norway are once again guarantor countries along with Venezuela , which plays a crucial role due to its proximity to Colombia and because guerrilla members have taken refuge in its territory for years, according to Colombian authorities.
