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Venezuelan interim President Delcy Rodríguez announced that he and Colombian President Gustavo Petro have agreed to hold bilateral talks to discuss security, economic and energy issues.
“We will continue to foster relationships of understanding and shared interests for the well-being of our people,” Rodriguez said in a post shared to Instagram on Wednesday.
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Speaking in La Guajira, Colombia’s northernmost border region with Venezuela, Petro said he had invited Rodríguez to meet in the border city of Cúcuta to discuss energy cooperation and infrastructure projects. He also did not go into details about the timing of the meeting.
Colombia and Venezuela share more than 2,200 kilometers (1,370 miles) of border and often have a fragile relationship. Relations between the two countries have become even more complicated in recent years as nearly three million Venezuelan migrants and refugees have arrived in Colombia.
Translation: Today, I met with the President of the Republic of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, and agreed to hold a high-level bilateral meeting soon to continue to advance important issues on the economic, energy and security agendas, within the framework of cooperation and strengthening relations based on mutual respect and collaboration between our countries. We remain committed to fostering relationships based on understanding and shared interests in the well-being of our people.
New relationship with the US
The announcement comes as Venezuela adjusts to a new government following the ouster of former leader Nicolas Maduro.
On January 3, the United States abducted President Maduro and his wife, Syria Flores, in a military operation and transferred them to New York.
A few weeks later, Venezuela’s Supreme Court appointed Rodriguez as acting president.
She was officially sworn into office on January 5, with support from Venezuela’s military, ruling party, and the United States.
But international groups and Venezuelan opposition parties have questioned his legitimacy given the absence of an elected mandate.
Critics and international organizations such as the European Union are also scrutinizing the deep ties between Mr. Rodriguez, who faces accusations of widespread human rights abuses, and the Maduro government. She previously served as President Maduro’s vice president.
However, US President Donald Trump has signaled his support for Rodriguez, but he said his support for Rodriguez is predicated on how responsive she is to American demands.
Rodriguez has so far overseen reforms, including a new law to open Venezuela’s nationalized oil sector to foreign investment, a key priority of President Trump.
Meanwhile, under the new administration, the United States has begun easing some of the sanctions aimed at promoting oil production.
Regional diplomacy becomes more active
The upheaval in Venezuela’s leadership ushered in a new period of international diplomacy for the country, long isolated by U.S. sanctions.
On Wednesday, Venezuela hosted Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani.
Media reports also said top U.S. military officials, including General Francis Donovan and Pentagon leader Joseph Humia, arrived on a private visit the same day, becoming one of the first high-level Pentagon delegations to land in Venezuela since Maduro’s ouster.
These visits followed last week’s meeting between Rodriguez and U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright, the first senior Trump administration official to visit Venezuela.
Trump himself has hinted in recent weeks about a potential diplomatic trip to Venezuela. He would then become the first sitting US president to set foot in Caracas in nearly 30 years.
Colombian President Petro was not among the leaders to exclude Venezuela during the Maduro regime.
Since taking office in 2022, Petro has worked to improve relations with Venezuela’s leftist government, restoring diplomatic relations and reopening borders after years of tension. He has also visited President Maduro multiple times, most recently in April 2024.
But their relationship will be tested by Venezuela’s contentious 2024 elections. Maduro claimed victory for a third term, but opposition leaders released voter documents suggesting otherwise, leading to widespread protests that the vote was fraudulent.
Petro publicly questioned the election results and said Colombia would not recognize the legitimacy of the vote.
“Venezuela’s past elections were not free,” Petro wrote on social media, accusing Maduro of ignoring “Colombia’s demands for maximum transparency.”
He ultimately boycotted Maduro’s 2025 presidential inauguration by refusing to attend.
