Venezuela summit hosted by Petro: Many expectations, few results

If 20 countries find it difficult to agree on something, they do so in Venezuela, in about three hours, a seemingly impossible task. The international summit organized by Gustavo Pedro took place this Tuesday in Bogotá with more expectations than results. The results are limited to three points, which are not novel. The need to establish an electoral schedule in Venezuela, agreements between Chavismo and the opposition to lift sanctions, and relaunch the dialogue process in Mexico must go hand in hand with the creation of funds for social investment. The country was agreed on in November, but there is still no news about it.

The crowd left a chilly atmosphere. The Colombian government managed the previous day to resolve the guido crisis that could be baptized. The Venezuelan opposition leader made a surprise announcement on Monday of his presence in Colombia, having entered illegally from Venezuela. No one expected this and it was perceived as an attempt to boycott the meeting in all sectors questioned by the summit, including the majority of opposition parties. Guaidó accompanied the Colombian government to El Dorado airport to board a flight to Miami (USA) that same night. “Obviously a political sector wanted to disrupt the independent development of the international conference on Venezuela,” Pedro said on Tuesday.

Ultimately the problem is not the unpredictable politician. The problem is the biggest complication of the Venezuelan crisis. The crowd had all the makings of a hit. Nicolás Maduro’s government, without enthusiasm, gave its approval to the appointment. Opposition representatives traveled to Bogotá to meet with the Colombian president on Saturday. The United States sent a representative to encourage Colombia to take action to celebrate. EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Joseph Borrell was the guest of honor. However, the results, read by Colombian Foreign Minister Alvaro Leyva, were watered down.

Petro Matamath is realizing that it is better to lower expectations about the neighboring country. Since coming to power last August, he has devoted part of his energies to Venezuela. First, restoring relations between the two countries, broken by his conservative predecessor, Ivan Dug. Second, adopting a regional leadership that would contribute to preventing the crisis in the oil country. On both ends, everything was more difficult than it seemed at first glance. Relations have been restored, but Maduro is an expert at delaying anything. Facing the rest of the world, with Pedro, who will have four years to fulfill his promises, Chavismo is in no rush for anything.

The meeting was intended to encourage the parties to return to the negotiating table in Mexico. A process of mediation by Norway and its last meeting was held last November. Time is running out against the talks’ goal of holding democratically guaranteed elections in 2024. Chavismo doesn’t want to stop dragging his feet. Around him, the country is mired in an increasingly severe economic crisis, but holding a fair and free presidential election, as the opposition is calling for, could see him lose power, where Maduro has been in power for 10 years.

In his defense, the Chavista president accused the U.S. of blocking those assets after agreeing in November to freeze Venezuelan funds abroad to invest in social activities in the country. In any event, the agreement does not involve any direct payment to the Maduro government, but rather to the UN. The UN is creating a social fund of about $3,000 million with frozen amounts in several countries and direct investments in Venezuela. -Schools, hospitals, electricity network etc.-, representatives of the government and opposition parties agreed in detail.

Obstacles to its creation at the UN stem from a letter from the State Department that suggested the possibility of Venezuela’s creditors demanding payment of their debts once the funds are released. Diplomatic sources assure that Washington is already working on the matter to speed up the process, resolve potential issues and that results will come soon. Members of the opposition delegation that went to Bogotá hoped that the creation of that social fund would be announced at the summit this Tuesday, but that did not happen.

Leyva announced that the conclusions, summarized in 258 words, would now be sent to the parties, according to what he read publicly at the end of the meeting. Soon, he said, a second summit would be called to check the development of agreements with the same guests. That appointment will no longer be called a “meeting of foreign ministers,” as Pedro has noted on several occasions, and only four people attended this Tuesday, including the Colombian. Most delegations are diplomatic charges.

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