2023-04-17 23:42:35
The president of Colombia will meet this week with his US counterpart Joe Biden.
The Colombian President, Gustavo Petro, assured this Monday that he will talk this week with his US counterpart, Joe Bidenabout a possible lifting of the sanctions on Venezuelaan issue that will be the central axis of the summit called by his government for next week in Bogotá.
«More democracy, zero sanctions, It is the objective of the conference in Bogotá”, Petro announced in statements at the UN headquarters in New York, the first stop on the visit he made to the United States and which on Thursday led him to meet with Biden.
Asked by the journalists if he would address the issue of sanctions against Venezuela with him, Petro said that “it is a subject to discuss.”
In addition to the United States, the European Union and countries like Canada have imposed punishments against Venezuela in recent years in response to the actions of the government of Nicolás Maduro.
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Sanctions Venezuela: topic to be discussed at the Bogota conference
In order to unblock the negotiation process between the Government and the Venezuelan opposition, Colombia has convened an international meeting for April 25 in which representatives of the United States, European countries and several Latin American States are expected to participate.
Petro insisted that this meeting will mainly seek “that there be no sanctions” and that “there be much more democracy.”
“I think, without meddling in the internal Venezuelan political discussion, that the path of dialogue, the path of democracy (…) it is the right path”, said the Colombian president.
“In other words, let it be what the Venezuelan people, free, without pressure, decide on their immediate future,” he added.
Last week, the Colombian foreign minister, Alvaro Leyva, announced that the international conference in Bogotá will have some 15 countries that will seek to help reactivate the dialogue between the Maduro government and the opposition.
The foreign minister made it clear that, despite speculation, the US Secretary of State is not expected to be present at the meeting, Antony Blink, but other US representatives did.
The Venezuelan parties will not participate in the conference itself, Leyva explained, but it is expected that they will follow it closely and that there may be an invitation for them to follow.
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