• Venezuela The US remains firm: "Nicolás Maduro is an illegitimate leader"

"Welcome again".

In a surprise trip to carry out an "extraordinary bilateral meeting" with

Nicolás Maduro

, Colombian President

Gustavo Petro

traveled to Caracas today to strengthen his alliance with the

"son of Chávez"

only two months after his first trip to Venezuela and when barely six days have passed since the "total opening" of the binational border.

The reception of the "people's president", who opens this chronicle, advanced what he already knew since the ex-guerrilla was sworn in last year: the alliance between the two is going from strength to strength and under full sail

"A broad and very fruitful meeting. We have a clear path for joint work that will continue to yield positive results for our countries in different areas. Long live the union between Colombia and Venezuela!", Maduro harangued after two hours of meeting, without giving more Clues of what was said inside the

Miraflores Palace

.

After the fiasco of the ceasefire with the guerrillas of

the National Liberation Army (ELN)

, a close ally of Chavismo with a sanctuary installed in Venezuela, Petro intends to deepen the negotiations for "total peace" including the Brazilian Lula da Silva, after the transfer of the dialogues to Mexico.

It was precisely on another official trip of then-president Juan Manuel Santos to Caracas when he privately asked

Hugo Chávez

to act as a good man in the dialogues with the FARC.

In the

joint declaration after the meeting

, the

Maduro government has committed as a guarantor country to support Colombia

in its objective of maintaining the bilateral ceasefire and total peace.

Among Maduro's companions was retired general

Carlos Martínez

, who participated in the first round of talks with the ELN, held in Caracas.

And on the Colombian side, the presence of

Luis Gilberto Murillo

, ambassador in Washington, also drew attention.

"Colombia's relationship with the US conditions Petro's rapprochement with Venezuela. If Maduro does not allow progress in the concessions that are expected of him, especially electoral guarantees, Petro could find himself in a compromised position," said

Mariano de Alba

, a senior adviser to the CrisisGroup.

"Caracas is vital to Petro's proposal for total peace in Colombia and stability in the border area, but Washington is a crucial actor for military and security cooperation, as well as trade and foreign investment,"

concluded the internationalist.

The two countries intend to get the most commercial and economic benefit from the start-up of

the Atanasio Girardot bridge between northern Colombian Santander and Venezuelan Táchira

, after eight years of troubled diplomatic relations and the total break in 2019, when Bogotá joined the international challenge against the Bolivarian dictatorship.

Both administrations

will issue instructions to the different border authorities to complete the opening of all steps for goods and passengers

, as well as the implementation of agreements to improve infrastructure and services in the border area.

As for the regional scenario, the Patria Grande moves its diplomatic pieces at full speed a few days after the summit of the

Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (Celac)

is held in Buenos Aires .

Both Petro and Maduro intend to advance regional integration and the replacement of the Organization of American States (OAS).

The political harmony is growing between the two leaders, who have also defended tooth and nail the coup leader Pedro Castillo, who today shares a prison with the dictator Alberto Fujimori.

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