Following a recent phone call with US President Donald Trump, Colombian President Gustavo Petro has invited both Trump and Venezuela's acting president Delcy Rodríguez to Colombia to mediate the crisis sparked by Nicolás Maduro's US capture, aiming to foster tripartite dialogue and regional stability.
Colombian Foreign Minister Rosa Villavicencio confirmed on January 8 that President Gustavo Petro invited Venezuela's acting president Delcy Rodríguez and US President Donald Trump to visit Colombia amid the Venezuelan crisis. This follows their phone conversation the previous day, where Trump extended a White House invitation to Petro.
The proposal builds on discussions two days earlier between Petro and Rodríguez, seeking a tripartite dialogue with the US to stabilize Venezuela after Nicolás Maduro's capture on January 3 in Caracas by a US military operation ordered by Trump, which also resulted in 32 Cuban military deaths.
"The invitation has been made, just as a few weeks ago President Trump was invited to visit us in Colombia, to get to know us, so we can establish a more in-person, more direct dialogue," Villavicencio stated at a press conference in Bogotá.
Colombia, sharing a 2,219-kilometer border with Venezuela, positions itself as a mediator leveraging its peace process expertise. "We offer it, but a mediation must be accepted by the parties," the minister added.
Trump has claimed Cuba's government under Miguel Díaz-Canel is nearing collapse without Venezuelan oil support, a key alliance since the 2000s. This comes amid thawing US-Colombia ties after prior tensions over drugs, migration, and deportations.
The initiatives aim to prevent violence and promote dialogue in the region.
