Petro said: “If elected, I will resume relations with Venezuela”

In front of his followers, he spoke regarding the diplomatic situation with Venezuela and, therefore, promised to fully restore relations with President Nicolás Maduro.

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Leftist Gustavo Petro, one of the favourites for Colombia’s presidential elections later this month, said that if he wins, he will resume relations with Venezuela, broken off on 23 February 2019.

The presidential candidate of the Historic Pact announced this news from a rally he led in the department of Norte de Santander, where he was this Thursday resuming the agenda in a public square, following suspending all his public activities following announcing that a plan was being perpetrated once morest him to assassinate him.

In front of his followers, he spoke regarding the diplomatic situation with Venezuela and, therefore, he promised to fully reestablish relations with President Nicolás Maduro. “If Petro is elected president, we will reestablish diplomatic and consular relations with the Republic of Venezuela,” said Gustavo Petro in Cúcuta.

“I have to tell you that Cúcuta cannot be a city, it cannot prosper, it cannot overcome its problems without opening its borders. Whether diplomatic relations are restored normally is a difficult, even controversial issue. On a global scale, it is certainly debatable, but I do not see an alternative for Cúcuta if there is no full restoration of diplomatic and consular relations between the two countries,” he said.

In line with this, Petro promised that one of his first actions, if he wins the elections, will be to reestablish relations with Venezuela: “We need the other State, the will of two governments so that there is fluidity at the borders.”

According to the left-wing candidate, Duque and Maduro are similar. “The destinies of Colombia and Venezuela are on the same path, even their leaders resemble each other, because there is nothing more similar to Maduro in Colombia than Duque,” ​​he said.

Taken from: El Universal