Bogota Summit Must Support Lifting of Sanctions on Venezuela

On Monday, President Nicolas Maduro said he hopes that the "Bogota Summit", which was called by Colombian President Gustavo Petro for April 25, will contribute to achieving the lifting of all the sanctions against Venezuela set by established by the U.S. and its allies.

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"There are great expectations about the conference. We are going to be very aware of all the events and their development, proposals, and conclusions. It is a good opportunity to look for ways to overcome this era of sanctions and blockade that has affected Venezuela so much," he said.

In a meeting in Caracas held on Sunday, Maduro and Colombian Foreign Minister Alvaro Leyva analyzed the Bogota Summit in which representatives of 19 Latin American and European countries will take part.

"Venezuela supports this summit so as to energize and revive our country's struggle to achieve respect for our sovereignty and independence and for the definitive lifting of all unilateral coercive measures," the Bolivarian leader said.

President Petro called the "Bogota Summit" with the aim of unblocking the talks between the Venezuelan government and the opposition, which have not advanced since November 2022.

On that date, the parties signed an agreement to unfreeze the Venezuelan assets blocked abroad. So far, however, this agreement has not been fulfilled.

Coinciding with the demands from the Bolivarian people, President Petro on Tuesday confirmed that Colombia will ask the U.S. to lift the blockad against Venezuela.

President Maduro also announced that Russian Foreign Affairs Minister Serguei Lavrov will visit Venezuela on April 18 to hold meetings with Foreign Affairs Minister Yvan Gil and Vice President Delcy Rodriguez.

"I am going to receive him at the Miraflores Palace to review issues related to Russia-Venezuela cooperation, Russia's presence in Latin America and the Caribbean for the good of our region, and world geopolitics. It will be quite an interesting conversation," he said.