Presidents Of Colombia And Venezuela To Meet For First Time After Cutting Ties

Talks will be held between the leaders of Colombia and Venezuela in Caracas on Tuesday, Nov. 1 during the first meeting at the presidential level since the neighbors reestablished diplomatic ties after a three-year break, the presidency in Bogota said.

"President Gustavo Petro will travel to the city of Caracas with his team to have lunch with the Venezuelan president," Petro's office said in a statement about the meeting, said reports.

The new leftist president of Columbia Gustavo Petro will meet his counterpart Nicolas Maduro to discuss "the bilateral relationship between the two countries, the reopening of borders and Venezuela's re-entry into the inter-American human rights system," Petro's office said in a statement, said reports.

Venezuela broke off diplomatic relations in 2019 after Colombia's conservative president at the time, Ivan Duque, expressed support for opposition leader Juan Guaido.

Embassies and consulates in both countries were closed, and all the flights between the neighbors were grounded.

Since Petro succeeded Duque in August, Colombia's first-ever left-wing president has made moves to patch up relations with Venezuela's populist leftist government.

Caracas and Bogota formally reestablished diplomatic relations on Aug. 29 by sending ambassadors to each other's capitals.

As a first step toward resuming commercial relations, the countries reopened their shared 2,200-kilometer (1,350-mile) border to vehicles transporting goods last month. The value of the restarted commercial relations was about $7.2 billion in 2008.

The two neighbors have also announced their intention to restore military relations as they share a border infested with armed groups fighting over lucrative drug resources and routes.

The presidency statement said the aim of Tuesday's meeting was to "boost the economy of the region" and "the protection of the Amazon" which they share with other South American countries.

Petro was elected on a platform of ambitious environmental, economic and social change, and making peace with armed groups that continue fighting despite Colombia's 2016 peace deal.

Venezuela is a guarantor country at Colombia's talks with the National Liberation Army (ELN) rebels, which will resume in November. Advocacy group Human Rights Watch has said Colombia could use the renewed relationship to help curb human rights violations in its neighbor.