Petro plans to meet with a section of the Venezuelan opposition

BOGOTO (AP) – Colombian President Gustavo Petro plans to meet with a section of the Venezuelan opposition in the coming days ahead of the international summit to be held in Bogota on April 25 to discuss political tensions in Venezuela, a meeting that sparked conflict. opinions within the opposition.

The so-called United Platform, an opposition bloc made up of members of the group that since 2021 has held intermittent dialogues with representatives of Nicolás Maduro in Mexico, confirmed on Tuesday in a statement that it will attend the meeting with Petro in Bogotá, which was not disclosed either the date or time.

On the other hand, other leaders from the opposition sectors who did not confirm their presence in Bogota criticized the international summit organized by Colombia with the aim of reviving the dialogues in Mexico that had been suspended since last November. Petro and Maduro said the day before that the summit – which they hope will be attended by representatives of 15 countries from Latin America and Europe – will seek to end sanctions against Venezuela.

Opposition leader Juan Guaido, who until January was the most prominent face of the opposition internationally under the figure of the interim government, rejected Petro’s attempt to overturn sanctions against Venezuela: “When there is no democracy, as in Venezuela, all sides are heard. Be A spokesman for human rights, not for those who persecute and imprison dissent.”

Other opposition leaders, such as María Corina Machado, the primary candidate of Vente Venezuela, and Delsa Solorzano, the preliminary candidate of the opposition party Encuentro Ciudadano, who noted on the same social network that “the only way to achieve democracy in Venezuela is to leave Maduro and his associates”.

“This call by President Petro cuts across the pre-election campaign environment in Venezuela, so many candidates do not want to appear at this time in a process that could be interpreted as helping Maduro,” Pedro told the Associated Press. Political analyst and professor at the Central University of Venezuela.

The opposition sectors plan to hold primary elections next October, in which they will choose a candidate capable of confronting Maduro at the polls.

To attend the meeting with some Venezuelan opposition leaders, Petro will return to Colombia after his meeting Thursday at the White House with US President Joe Biden, thus canceling his Friday agenda in Washington that included meetings with businessmen, as confirmed by the press on Tuesday. Colombia Presidency Office.

Colombian Foreign Minister Alvaro Leyva told the press on Tuesday that “the doors are open” to all sectors of the Venezuelan opposition who want to attend the meeting in Bogota, which he made clear would be divided into two days given that “we saw that it is not easy to convince them so that they all go for one day.”

“It is about reconciling interests so that free elections can be held, which is an issue that the United States cares deeply about,” Leva added from Washington.

The UCP said that in the meeting with the Petro they would present the “necessary” steps to “save democracy” in Venezuela through free, verifiable elections in line with international standards. They will also talk about the need to release “political prisoners” in Venezuela and approach the agenda of the negotiations that took place in Mexico, facilitated by Norway.

“We hope that the summit called by the Colombian government will immediately reactivate the negotiation process in Mexico City,” the opposition party group added.

The dialogue began in Mexico in August 2021 and in the negotiation methodology it was emphasized that “nothing is agreed until everything is done”, but the possibility was left open for them to reach “partial agreements”, like the one that happened in November last year. To create a fund of about $3,000 million to meet social needs, to be financed from resources frozen by the Venezuelan state as a result of the sanctions.