One-day Venezuela conference promotes free elections and the lifting of economic sanctions

On Tuesday, Colombian President Gustavo Petro hosted world leaders in Bogotá for a one-day conference to discuss the political situation in Venezuela, where critics accuse the administration of Nicolás Maduro of stifling opposition.

Representatives from 19 countries and the European Union met in the San Carlos Palace on Tuesday, where Petro opened the meeting with a speech.

President Gustavo Petro leads a conference of world leaders to discuss Venezuela at the San Carlos Palace in Bogotá, Colombia.

In it, he called on the international community to lift sanctions against Venezuela, but he also pressed for Maduro to schedule democratic elections in the country. He acknowledged that in recent elections, candidates opposing the Maduro government have been disqualified or jailed for their political views

“The history of Latin America is in our hands,” Petro, Colombia’s first left-wing president, told the diplomats.

He depicted Latin America at a crossroads: Either the attendees could “mark a path that leads toward war and the deconstruction of democracy, or we can rebuild the path of peace and democracy”.

Representatives from Argentina, Brazil, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States attended the conference, which was meant to reignite stalled talks between Maduro’s administration and Venezuela’s political opposition.

The two sides had previously met in Mexico City to negotiate a resolution to the country’s political impasse, but those talks sputtered last December.

Neither of the opposing parties was in attendance at Tuesday’s conference. But the opposition coalition, the Democratic Unitary Platform, voiced support for the meeting, though some factions questioned Colombia’s role as mediator.

Since its 2018 presidential elections, Venezuela has faced a divided government. Maduro was overwhelmingly reelected for a second six-year term — but only after some of Venezuela’s most prominent opposition parties were barred from participating.

That led critics of Maduro’s socialist government to declare the election illegitimate. After Maduro’s inauguration in January 2019, Juan Guaidó, the opposition leader and then-president of Venezuela’s National Assembly, issued a declaration establishing a state of emergency. He also named himself “interim president” in place of Maduro.

Some countries, like the US, chose to recognise the opposition government over Maduro’s and impose heavy sanctions against Venezuela. According to sources at the U.S. State Department, the U.S. position could change if free elections are held.

However, in recent months, Latin America has seen a wave of left-wing leaders elected to top positions in government, leading some countries to resume relations with Maduro’s government.
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Credit: Al Jazeera