President Gustavo Petro said Colombia will not lend its territory for a possible U.S. invasion of Venezuela. Maintaining his usual critical tone toward the U.S. and its military siege on Venezuela’s coasts, Petro recalled that his government does not recognize Nicolas Maduro as Venezuela’s president but warned that this “is an internal problem that must be solved through dialogue.”
In this regard, Petro repeated his condemnation of the deployment of U.S. warships in the southern Caribbean, sent under the pretext of combating Venezuelan drug trafficking groups but which the Colombian administration views as a threat of invasion against a sovereign country.
Colombia won’t allow US invasion of Venezuela from its territory
During his stay in Brazil, where Gustavo Petro inaugurated a joint police center with President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva to combat drug trafficking in the Amazon, the Colombian president once again addressed the political and military tensions between Venezuela and the U.S. In this sense, after criticizing the U.S. naval deployment, Petro stated that Colombia will not lend its territory for a possible invasion of Venezuela.
“Colombia will not lend its territory for an invasion. How could we allow an invasion?” said the Colombian president during his speech at the inauguration of the international police cooperation center in the Amazon.
In addition, Petro again questioned last week’s attack on a vessel by the U.S., accused of transporting drugs from Venezuela to U.S. shores. The attack completely destroyed the vessel and caused the death of its 11 crew members, something the Colombian president described as “murder.”
He also urged the rest of Latin American leaders to protest against this type of military action, defending the national sovereignty of each territory, arguing that, if they do not, others could suffer the consequences in the future.
“Latin America, which owns the Caribbean, cannot tolerate this and remain silent, because if not, later the bombs will fall on Bogota, Rio de Janeiro, Manaus, and other cities in the region,” he said.
For Petro, the solution lies in ‘promoting political dialogue with Venezuela’
After recalling that Colombia does not recognize Nicolas Maduro as Venezuela’s legitimate president following last year’s controversial elections, which the opposition and several international institutions labeled as “fraud,” he pointed out that the path to a solution is through “promoting political dialogue with Venezuela.”
Petro admitted that Venezuela faces an internal political problem but added that this conflict must be resolved through dialogue, not bombs. “It is an internal problem that must be solved through dialogue, and we cannot accept being told it will be solved with missiles, as is happening now in Palestine,” he said.
Addressing Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Ecuadorian Vice President Maria Jose Pinto, whom he met in Manaus, Petro said that Latin American countries may be divided and disagree politically, but they must unite to help Venezuela resolve its crisis.
Despite the failure of the operation, promoted by Colombia, Brazil, and Mexico a year ago, to seek a negotiated solution with Maduro, Petro reaffirmed that it is still time “to talk.”
“It is time to talk, and I invite you to seek for a group of South American countries to once again promote political dialogue in Venezuela. Because the Venezuelan people must come together to solve their problems in the face of the threat of invasion,” he said.
Gustavo Petro and Nicolas Maduro: The complex road to understanding
Since Petro took office as president of Colombia in August 2022, relations with Nicolas Maduro’s government have undergone a substantial shift after years of diplomatic rupture. Petro reopened the binational border, promoted the normalization of consular and trade relations, and stressed the need for Venezuela to return to international forums such as the Andean Community and the Inter-American human rights system.
Both leaders share political affinities around criticism of the United States, the push for autonomous Latin American integration, and concern over climate change. They have also agreed on the need to jointly confront issues such as drug trafficking and illegal mining along the Amazon border, pushing for the creation of a binational zone at the border.
However, not everything has been harmonious. Since last year, Petro has distanced himself by not recognizing the democratic legitimacy of the Venezuelan regime, insisting that the internal political crisis must be resolved through dialogue and free elections. At the same time, opposition sectors in Colombia and Venezuela criticize the rapprochement, while problems such as smuggling, mass migration, and border violence persist.
Despite the tensions, the reestablishment of diplomatic channels has enabled pragmatic progress, though the road remains fraught with political and humanitarian obstacles.