Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva landed this Tuesday night in Bogotá to visit Gustavo Petro with countless sources of diplomatic conflict in the region. Mexico broke relations with Ecuador after the police assault on the North American embassy in Quito, while Venezuela has clashed with Chile amid growing concerns about an electoral process in which Chavismo has blocked the passage of opposition candidates. Although Lula's visit theoretically has a cultural accent, as it responds to the invitation to inaugurate the Bogotá book fair, in which Brazil is the guest country, the two leaders will analyze, among other issues on the regional agenda, the direction of the Venezuelan electoral process, they admit from the Brazilian Foreign Ministry.
The two left-wing presidents, part of the progressive Latin American axis, have recently hardened their tone with respect to the Government of Nicolás Maduro after months of silence and diplomatic discretion. That the Venezuelan authorities have vetoed Corina Yoris, the candidate designated by her namesake, the disqualified María Corina Machado, is “serious,” Lula said last month on the occasion of French President Emmanuel Macron's visit to Brasilia. Petro, for his part, came to describe this veto as an “undemocratic coup,” but last week he visited Maduro and promised from Caracas – where he also met with the opposition Manuel Rosales – that Colombia will work for “political peace” in Venezuela. .
“The regional situation is an issue that must be addressed” and the process leading up to the presidential elections on July 28 in Venezuela is “of interest to both countries,” said last week the director of the South American department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. from Brazil, João Marcelo Galvão de Queiroz, in a press conference prior to the trip. Lula and Petro agree that “isolating” Venezuela “does not and has not served any purpose,” and remain determined to promote dialogue between the Maduro government and the opposition to guarantee free and transparent elections, the diplomat noted. Bogotá and Brasilia “share very similar visions with regard to the Amazonian dimension that they both possess and in relation to South American and regional integration, more broadly,” he added.
Lula meets this Wednesday with Petro at the Casa de Nariño to address the bilateral agenda that includes issues of trade, sustainable development, regional integration and the protection of the Amazon, an issue on which both leaders place emphasis. Brazil and Colombia share a destiny as two of the most biodiverse countries in the world, and their presidents find important coincidences there – with nuances around oil exploration, which Petro intends to leave behind. The two have exhibited harmony on the environmental front, with Cali hosting this year's global biodiversity summit, COP16, and Belem do Pará hosting the 2025 climate change summit, COP30. South America is today the heart of the global environmental agenda, with Brazil and Colombia as the countries that have reduced deforestation the most in the world, highlights an official statement from the Planalto palace: “Commitment to the environment is a hallmark of both countries".
The visit includes the signing of several cooperation instruments to promote strategic alliances in the field of human rights and rural development, reports the Colombian Presidency. Lula will also attend a forum in the capital with businessmen from the two countries. According to official data, in 2023 bilateral trade totaled 6.1 billion dollars, with the balance tilted in favor of Brazil, which exported products worth 3.8 billion dollars. Lula will finally attend with Petro the opening of the book fair in the Colombian capital, the popular FILBo, one of the largest in the region, in which nature is the programmatic axis in this edition. The president is accompanied by his Foreign Minister, Mauro Vieira, as well as his Ministers of Culture, Margareth Menezes, and of Racial Equality, Anielle Franco. Even in the midst of books, writers and environmentalists, Maduro, in all likelihood, will be a topic of conversation that is difficult to avoid.
Newsletter
The analysis of current events and the best stories from Colombia, every week in your mailbox
RECEIVE THE