The Presidency of the Republic confirmed that the president Gustavo Petro will meet with the Democratic Unitary Platform of Venezuela, on Saturday, April 22, around 7 pm. The meeting will take place at the Hato Grande hacienda, the presidential estate located on the outskirts of Bogotá.
The appointment will be given three days before the International conference on the political process in Venezuela to be held in Bogotá on April 25 and attended by 20 countries. As has been reported, the conversation prior to the international meeting will revolve around achieving a democratic solution to the political crisis in the neighboring country.
The meeting will be attended by the coordinator of the delegation of the unitary platformGerardo Blyde, along with Claudia Nikken, Tomás Guanipa, Stalin González, Luis Aquiles Moreno, Luis Emilio Rondón, Alejandro Mora and Roberto Enríquez.
This is the first meeting of Gustavo Petro with opposition parties in Venezuela since he assumed the Presidency of the Republic.
From the Casa de Nariño they highlighted that this meeting “shows that this issue summons the interest and commitment not only of the continent, but of the world.”
Alvaro LeyvaForeign Minister of Colombia, and who will be present at the meeting to be held on the night of Saturday, April 22, stressed that “Colombia is a friend of understanding, dialogue and peace”, after explaining that the meeting between Gustavo Petro and the Venezuelan opposition Its purpose is to open possibilities for dialogue for all sectors in Venezuela.
In addition, Leyva Durán stressed that in the meetings with the different political parties of Venezuela “we will try to resolve situations specific to Venezuela without interference. This implies helping to lay the foundations of the game for the 2024 elections and that the result is guaranteed and has the support of the international community”, pointed out the chancellor.
The Foreign Ministry pointed out that other parties of Venezuelan opposition They will also be invited by President Petro to “listen to their opinions as today (Saturday, April 22) will be done with the Unitary Platform, with the aim of seeking ways of understanding between the Venezuelan people and striving for the success of the elections that must be held.” place in 2024″.
For her part, the Democratic Unitary Platform of Venezuela issued a statement in which she was enthusiastic about the meeting.
“This process is the tool that our country has today to put an end to the political, social and economic crisis through agreements that allow the institutional reconstruction of the State, the alternation in power, the rescue of the value of the vote, the cessation of the violation of human rights and the establishment of the conditions that allow internal growth,” said the Unitary Platform in a statement.
This initiative has also been applauded by Nicolas Madurowho sees in the summit “a good opportunity to overcome the problems and turn the page on this tortuous time of criminal sanctions.”
From the United States, where he met with President Joe Biden, Gustavo Petro spoke of the International conference on the political process in Venezuelawhich he highlighted as a space “fundamentally so that, with the Venezuelan government and with the Venezuelan Opposition, establish the minimum of a great agreement that guarantees not only elections, lifting of sanctions, but also normality in the life of all political actors in Venezuela”.
Precisely, the United States confirmed that it will participate in the meeting on Tuesday, April 25, with a delegation that will be headed by Deputy National Security Advisor Jon Finer, accompanied by Special Advisor to the Presidency for the Americas, Chris Dodd, and the Director of the Council of National Security for the Western Hemisphere, Juan González, reported the White House.
