Venezuela and Colombia reestablish relations with the arrival of their ambassadors

Venezuela and Colombia reestablished bilateral relations with the arrival of ambassadors Armando Benedetti and Felix Plasencia in Caracas and Bogota, respectively. Diplomatic ties between the two nations had been broken since 2019, when the government of Iván Duque recognized Juan Guaidó as the president of the Venezuelans.

Armando Benedetti, who was appointed by President Gustavo Petro as Colombia's new ambassador to Venezuela, arrived in Caracas on Sunday and received his credentials from Nicolás Maduro on Monday.

"There are several ideas: among themto create a special part-and-part economic zone. And in my country, legislation should be passed so that investments can be made in hospitals, bridges, works, infrastructure, that really have an impact on development", Benedetti declared on Sunday from Caracas, referring to plans to reestablish trade relations between the two neighboring countries. Colombia and Venezuela share a border of 2,219 kilometers.

The Colombian Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced the arrival of Felix Plasencia, Venezuela's ambassador-designate, in Bogota.

The diplomat announced on his Instagram account that he arrived in Colombia to present the Letters of Credence to Petro's government.

Plascencia was foreign minister and ambassador of the Venezuelan regime in China and Russia.

Relations with the ELN and the Monomer Case

After Gustavo Petro announced his intention to resume negotiations for a peace agreement with the National Liberation Army (ELN), Venezuela could play an important role in these talks considering the significant presence of this terrorist group in Venezuelan territory. The Neo-Granadian president informed a few days ago that he will again convene the countries that were guarantors during the alleged peace process initiated during the government of Juan Manuel Santos in 2016.

On the other hand, the agricultural inputs company Monómeros, which provides a large part of the fertilizers used in Colombia, could pass back into the hands of Nicolás Maduro in the next few days. The company was being managed by representatives of interim president Juan Guaidó. However there are a number of accusations of alleged mismanagement of resources during this management and Petro's government plans to return to the Venezuelan dictatorship the power over administrative processes.

Nicolás Maduro, already registered his board of directors in Monómeros before the Chamber of Commerce of Barranquilla last Thursday. The new administrators will be in place for 10 working days.