BOGOTA--A summit meant to reinvigorate talks between the Venezuelan government of Nicolas Maduro and opposition political parties, attended by representatives from 19 countries and the European Union, produced no concrete results on Tuesday, though a further meeting was planned.
The meeting in Bogota, hosted by Colombian President Gustavo Petro with support from the United States, included Spain, the United Kingdom, Argentina, Brazil and others.The meeting was meant to help Maduro and the opposition restart stalled talks in Mexico focused on free elections and the possible lifting of sanctions against the government.
Some attendees "will inform President Nicolas Maduro, the opposition political parties and civil society of the results for their evaluation and comments," Colombian Foreign Minister Alvaro Leyva said after the meeting, adding another summit will be held to continue work.
Attendees found common ground over the need for free elections and lifting of sanctions parallel to agreements between the two sides, he said.
Petro met over the weekend with representatives from the Unitary Platform alliance, which represents some of Venezuela's opposition. Neither the opposition nor the government participated directly in the summit.
The Mexico talks, held briefly last year and in 2021, are supposed to provide a roadmap out of the long-running crisis.
The Biden administration has no desire to maintain sanctions into perpetuity, deputy national security advisor Jon Finer told journalists, reiterating it would take concrete steps toward elections for them to be lifted."It is about taking real, measurable, concrete steps in the direction of democracy," he said.
The opposition contends that ruling party control of the electoral authority impedes transparent elections.
The government and the opposition last year signed a deal to create a U.N.-administrated humanitarian fund with frozen assets held in the international financial system.But slow establishment of the fund and other delays caused by a change in opposition leadership have created impatience towards U.S. bureaucracy among the opposition and Maduro.
Venezuela's government reiterated the need for "unilateral, illegal and damaging" sanctions to be lifted in a statement published via Twitter by Foreign Minister Yvan Gil.
Venezuela's return to talks will follow the creation of the U.N.-administered fund, as well as the release of Maduro ally Alex Saab, a Colombian businessman who is in U.S. custody, the statement added.
Former Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido arrived in Miami on Tuesday following a surprise visit to Colombia the previous day, where he had hoped to meet with participants at an international summit. Guaido unexpectedly arrived in Colombia on the eve of the summit. He boarded a plane in Colombia's capital Bogota on Monday, just hours after saying on Twitter he had crossed into Colombia on foot.
"After 70 hours or more of travel, I'm still very worried about my family and team," Guaido told journalists after arriving in Miami, referring to threats he said they had received.
Guaido's visit drew criticism from Colombian officials, with Foreign Minister Alvaro Leyva saying on Monday that Guaido had entered the country inappropriately. Colombia's migration agency accompanied Guaido to Bogota's airport to ensure his departure to the United States, the ministry said on Monday.
"Just enter with your passport and ask for asylum. With pleasure it would have been offered. You don't need to enter illegally," Petro tweeted on Tuesday, adding that Guaido was offered transit permissions.
Leyva told journalists on Tuesday that Guaido was accompanied by U.S. officials at the airport and his ticket was provided by the United States. "Juan Guaido believes he is under threat and departed Venezuela for Colombia. We assisted his onward departure to the United States," a U.S. official said on condition of anonymity.
