Venezuela welcomed the International Conference and emphasized its desire to see all sanctions lifted and diplomat Alex Saab released.
The “International Conference on the Political Process in Venezuela” began on Tuesday in Bogota, Colombia, under the supervision of Colombian President Gustavo Petro.
“There are a lot of expectations for this meeting. And when enormous expectations are raised, great disappointments may follow. “I hope it doesn’t happen like that,” he remarked in his opening remarks, emphasizing the gravity of the topics to be discussed.
“There are two major issues in South America: the peace process in Colombia and the political dialogue in Venezuela.” Both countries rely on these procedures,” Petro emphasized.
The Colombian President also reminded that the current history of Latin America has been distinguished by peoples’ struggles for social justice, which unleashed dictatorships that abused the political rights of millions of individuals in the twentieth century.
“Will we return to the days of dictatorships, bloodshed, and war?” “Part of the work we will do is to determine whether we will walk towards love or towards war,” he stated, emphasizing the need of analyzing what is going on in South America.
“The democratic project in Latin America can be deeper, richer, and more multicolored than projects produced in Europe.” “In a sense, Latin American history is in our hands,” Petro emphasized.
Petro stressed the significance of eliminating the sanctions imposed by the US and its allies on the Bolivarian Revolution after proposing the Inter-American Human Rights System as the foundation for a new major democratic alliance in Latin America.
“Venezuelan society does not want to be sanctioned because the sanctions have fallen on the Venezuelan people… America cannot be a space for sanctions but a space for freedoms and democracy,” he said, calling for the establishment of two timetables, one for holding elections in Venezuela and the other for lifting sanctions against Venezuela.
Petro concluded his inaugural statement by stressing his desire for the Conference to generate concrete outcomes that will allow the Bolivarian people’s demands to be fulfilled “without anyone putting pressure on Venezuelans from outside” to make decisions against their will.
“Hopefully, the recommendations we make are well received by the Venezuelan government and opposition,” Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos said.
Representatives from Argentina, Barbados, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, France, Germany, Honduras, Italy, Mexico, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Turkey, South Africa, the United Kingdom, the United States, and the European Union attended the International Conference on Tuesday.
This event will examine the necessity to go forward with the implementation of the “Second Partial Agreement for the Social Protection of the Venezuelan People,” which was reached in Mexico in November 2022 and aimed to liberate US$3.6 billion in Venezuelan assets frozen overseas.
The Bolivarian administration welcomed the Bogota Summit and emphasized its desire to see all sanctions lifted and diplomat Alex Saab released.
Participants at the International Conference include European Union High Representative for Foreign Affairs Josep Borrell, as well as foreign ministers Santiago Cafiero (Argentina), Alberto van Klaveren (Chile), and Celso Amorim (Brazil).
The United States is represented by Juan Gonzalez, White House Adviser for Latin America, Chris Dodd, Special Adviser for the Americas, and Jonathan Finer, Deputy National Security Advisor.