:quality(75)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/elcomercio/VKPQNVSNDRB4PM623C24VWORRQ.jpg "Petro says he will seek the lifting of sanctions on Venezuela before Biden")
The president of Colombia, Gustavo Petroassured this Monday that he will talk this week with his American counterpart, Joe Bidenon a possible lifting of sanctions against Venezuelaan issue that will be the central axis of the summit called by his government for next week in Bogota.
“More democracy, zero sanctions, is the goal of the conference in Bogota”, Petro advanced in statements at the headquarters of the UN in NYthe first stopover of the visit he made to USA and that on Thursday he will take him to meet with Biden.
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Asked by the journalists if he will discuss with him the issue of sanctions against VenezuelaPetro said that “it is a topic to discuss”.
In addition to the United States, the European Union and countries like Canada have imposed punishments against Venezuela in recent years in response to the actions of the Government of Nicolas Maduro.
In order to unblock the negotiation process between the government and the Venezuelan opposition, Colombia convened an international meeting for April 25 in which representatives of the United States, European countries and several Latin American states are expected to participate.
Petro insisted that this appointment will be mainly sought “that there are no sanctions” and “there is much more democracy”.
“I think, without meddling in the internal Venezuelan political discussion, that the path of dialogue, the path of democracy (…) is the appropriate path”, said the Colombian president.
“In other words, let it be what the Venezuelan people, free, without pressure, decide on their immediate future.”, he added.
Last week, the Colombian foreign minister, Alvaro Leyvaannounced that the international conference in Bogotá will have some fifteen countries that will seek to help reactivate the dialogue between the Maduro government and the opposition.
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The foreign minister made it clear that, despite speculation, the US Secretary of State is not expected to be present at the meeting, Anthony Blinkenbut other US representatives did.
The Venezuelan parties will not participate in the conference itself, Leyva explained, but it is expected that they will follow it closely and that there may be an invitation for them to follow.
Source: Elcomercio
I am Jack Morton and I work in 24 News Recorder. I mostly cover world news and I have also authored 24 news recorder. I find this work highly interesting and it allows me to keep up with current events happening around the world.
