CARACAS, Mar 14: High-level Colombian officials, including the ministers of foreign relations and defense, met with their Venezuelan counterparts in Caracas on Friday in what acting Venezuelan President Delcy Rodriguez said were productive meetings, as she called for a end to US sanctions against her country.
The meeting, the first in-person between the two neighboring South American countries since the ouster in early January of former Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, was focused on energy cooperation, security and trade, Rodriguez said.
Originally, Rodriguez had been slated to meet with Colombian President Gustavo Petro in what would have been her first presidential-level bilateral, but that was canceled due to what the governments said was "force majeure," without elaborating.
Rodriguez, speaking after meeting with the ministers, said collaboration between the two countries would be hugely fruitful economically and would fulfill the vision of their joint founder, South American ?liberation hero Simon Bolivar.
"And I want to take this opportunity to also send a message to the president of the United States, Donald Trump, to make it clear that unilateral coercive measures against the Venezuelan people affect the peoples of our Latin America," said Rodriguez.
"The call is for sanctions against Venezuela to be lifted."
Rodriguez, formerly vice president, has been seeking to attract investors in oil and mining as she attempts to stabilize the country since the capture of Maduro by US forces. Trump has repeatedly praised her, and she has welcomed US officials and potential investors to Caracas. The US and Venezuela have also formally re-established diplomatic ties.
Washington on Friday said it was expanding sanctions waivers on Venezuela to ease investment in energy and allow for fertilizer exports.
Among those who traveled to Caracas were Colombian defense minister Pedro Sanchez, who met with his counterpart Vladimir Padrino to coordinate security strategies for the shared 2,200-kilometer (1,370-mile) border. Foreign ministers Rosa Villavicencio of Colombia and Yvan Gil of Venezuela also discussed cooperation, they said.
"We have a very active border, and we are ?calling - and this is what I welcome about that meeting - for immediate coordination, for the permanent exchange of information...in order to combat drug trafficking, for example," Rodriguez said. "REUTERS
