The Colombian leader this Friday became the first foreign leader to visit the president in charge of Venezuela in Caracas, since she took charge instead of Nicolás Maduro on January 3. The meeting in Miraflores was conducive to announcing cooperation plans in areas such as security and energy, while relatives of Colombians detained in Venezuela for political reasons pressed for high-level efforts for their release.

First modification: 04/25/2026 - 01:06Last modification: 04/25/2026 - 04:26

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The long-awaited meeting between Delcy Rodríguez and Gustavo Petro finally took place in Miraflores, after the sudden cancellation of a meeting scheduled for early March at the binational 'Atanasio Girardot' bridge, known as 'Tienditas'.

The leaders announced cooperation plans in different areas, such as energy and security, while Petro received pressure from relatives of Colombians detained for political reasons in Venezuela to mediate for their release.

“Sister humanity begins with the neighbors,” Petro recalled during a brief speech after several hours of meeting.

Defense Collaboration

Both countries announced a new joint strategy against organized crime on the 2,219 kilometers of border they share.

The Venezuelan president in charge announced new cooperation tools around the exchange of information and the development of intelligence that must "come into effect immediately" to combat criminal gangs and transnational crime groups.

"Let the drug trafficking groups, groups that are involved in fuel smuggling and other types of contraband, know that we are taking firm steps to combat these crimes," he said.

For his part, President Gustavo Petro proposed using military, police and social actions to eradicate mafia organizations, among which he cited drug trafficking, human trafficking and illicit mining, and pledged that “the border will only be for the people.”

Electrical and gas interconnection

During the meeting, the possibility of resuming the supply of electricity and gas between both nations was also raised.

"The electrical interconnection is already one step away and so is the gas interconnection," said Delcy Rodríguez, who acknowledged that the Venezuelan network "is suffering from what has been the process of disinvestment from the national electrical system."

The president in charge also explained that she spoke with Petro about the possibility of transporting gas to Colombia and carrying out joint exports.

The issue of tourism was also mentioned, highlighting that, last year, binational trade amounted to 1.2 billion dollars.

Overall, Rodríguez highlighted the "deep need for union and integration" of both countries now, something that Petro also supported.

Relatives of political prisoners pressure Petro

Taking advantage of the meeting, a group of relatives of Colombian political prisoners asked Petro for his help to free 16 Colombians imprisoned in Venezuela and accused of "terrorism."

The so-called Committee of Relatives for the Freedom of False Positive Tancol (acronym used by Venezuelan authorities to talk about "armed terrorists and Colombian drug traffickers") called for the "immediate review" of the judicial cases of the Colombians in question.

The relatives ask the Government of Bogotá for information on the health status of those detained, and for an amnesty for the 16 Colombian citizens.

"They were detained without a court order or flagrante delicto, most of them were tortured, they were held incommunicado, a judicial file was filed against them and they face charges or have already been convicted for the crime of terrorism," the group explained.

According to activist Oglis Ramos, there are around 140 cases of people accused of alleged links to the so-called "tancol" groups.

Last March, the NGO Surgentes demanded that the Venezuelan Parliament review the cases of detainees accused of terrorism charges and who have been excluded from the Amnesty Law approved in February.

However, this Thursday, Delcy Rodríguez stated that this instrument was coming to an end and that pending cases may be reviewed through other mechanisms.

With EFE

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