The United States government, through the State Department, has issued a statement in which it pronounces on the visit of President Gustavo Petro to the President of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro.
The statement issued by a State Department spokesman assures that they are aware of the reports of President Petro’s visit to Venezuela and They urge Colombia to continue working with its allies to advocate for a democratic and prosperous hemisphere.
“Venezuelan-led negotiations are the only path to credible, free and fair elections that reflect the will of the Venezuelan people in their efforts to revitalize democracy,” the State Department spokesman said in his statement.
“We urge Colombia to continue working with its partners and in multilateral forums to advocate for a democratic and prosperous hemisphere, and hold accountable governments that have discarded democratic norms, like the authoritarian Maduro regime in Venezuela,” the State Department said.
The United States has insisted that the Maduro government must call elections again, as has also been demanded by the opposition led by Juan Guaidó who has recently held different demonstrations to ask the Venezuelan government to advance fair and free elections.
Referring to the above, the State Department assures in its statement that “Venezuelans deserve the same opportunity to democratically elect their leaders as Colombians and other peoples of the region.”
The spokesman who issued the statement assures in the text that The United States will remain firmly committed to the Venezuelan people and will continue to work with the international community. to support the restoration of democracy and the rule of law.
It should be remembered that the United States Government clarified that it recognizes the opposition Juan Guaidó as “interim president” of Venezuela and working with him to “restore democracy,” in response to speculation about a potential imminent end to a key backer for the Venezuelan leader.
After nearly four years of breaking bilateral relations, President Gustavo Petro met with Nicolás Maduro, his Venezuelan counterpart, in Caracas. The visit made it possible to learn about the joint work plan between the leaders, but also left photographs that mark a new era in the history of both countries.
President Petro left Bogotá with a delegation made up of Laura Sarabia, chief of staff; Álvaro Leyva, Minister of Foreign Affairs; Luis Ernesto Vargas, Colombian ambassador to the Organization of American States (OAS), and Félix Plasencia, ambassador of the neighboring country in Bogotá.
For his part, the Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó regretted that the president of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, had visited Caracas to “normalize” the “dictatorship” of Nicolás Maduro and has demanded, instead, that he demand “free and fair elections” in Venezuela.
“President Petro decides to visit the dictator Maduro today and call him ‘president’, an action that could dangerously normalize human rights violations that point to Maduro as being responsible for the chain of command and the worst migration crisis in the world,” Guaidó said in Twitter.