Colombia Seeks Negotiated Solution to Crisis in Venezuela

Written on 12/05/2025
Josep Freixes
Colombia would support a negotiated solution to the Venezuelan crisis, following meetings with the minority opposition to Maduro. Credit: @petrogustavo / X.com.

Colombia reaffirmed this week its commitment to a negotiated solution to Venezuela’s crisis, following the recent statement by its ambassador in Caracas after President Gustavo Petro’s meeting with Venezuelan social, labor, and business representatives in Cucuta, in the Norte de Santander department.

At that meeting, various leaders from the Venezuela Democratica platform expressed their desire for the country to move toward a national democratic process, rejecting all forms of violence. Bogota’s position, conveyed through its ambassador Milton Rengifo, focused on offering support for any initiative that promotes dialogue and negotiation — with the aim of overcoming both Venezuela’s internal crisis and its external tensions with the United States.

In his remarks, Rengifo highlighted Colombia’s willingness to back a negotiated solution, emphasizing that his country has already developed a comprehensive peace proposal whose experience legitimizes it as a mediator. This diplomatic support represents a new milestone in the bilateral relationship and reinforces Bogota’s commitment to contributing to regional stabilization.

Colombia seeks negotiated solution to crisis in Venezuela

Last Wednesday’s meeting, on Dec. 3, in Cucuta brought together prominent Venezuelans from different sectors: Business, labor, and social figures who — according to what was published by the Colombian government — hope to be an active voice in the pursuit of a democratic agreement.

In his message on social media, Petro said these representatives want to “open a national democratic agreement process,” with the conviction that all forms of violence must be rejected. The Colombian president has promoted the idea of a “shared transitional government,” with broad participation, as a mechanism to de-escalate tensions and pave the way for free elections.

The invitation to adopt that model has been repeated precisely to avoid “surgical solution” strategies that could generate more violence and territorial fragmentation, as has occurred in previous conflicts in the region.

In this context, the meeting in Cucuta represents — according to the Colombian government — a gesture of respect toward Venezuelan players not aligned exclusively with one political faction but with a wide social diversity. Beyond partisan affiliations, the shared message was clear: Venezuela’s crisis must be overcome through dialogue, negotiation, and consensus, not through repression or imposition. In his remarks, Petro warned that excluding sectors — or imposing a unilateral order — pushes any possibility of lasting peace further away.

Colombia’s mediating role, according to the ambassador

According to Rengifo, Colombia is willing to support “any type of dialogue initiative” promoted by Venezuelans — whether in the domestic sphere, regarding the conflict with the United States, or to overcome the national political crisis. In this regard, Bogotá hopes to play an active role as an international mediator, bringing to the negotiating table its historical experience in peace processes and internal agreements.

“Colombia would be a country that would support any type of initiative, of dialogue, between sectors of the opposition. This opposition advocates for dialogue, for a negotiated solution to the conflict,” said Milton Rengifo.

The ambassador to Venezuela emphasized that President Petro recognized the importance of listening to this emerging platform, made up of diverse players, including a former president of Fedecamaras, a former president of the Venezuelan Red Cross, a well-known union leader from the health sector, a university academic, and a leader of the centrist organitzation Alianza del Lapiz, an opposition party distanced from the dynamics of the majority Democratic Unity Roundtable.

“They make up a democratic Venezuela, and we hope that the conflict with the United States, as well as internal tensions, can be resolved through negotiation and without regrettable events,” concluded Ambassador Rengifo.

The government of President Petro in Colombia has always defended the possibility of reopening negotiation channels that had stalled after years of polarization and after last year’s controversial elections, from which Nicolas Maduro proclaimed himself the winner.

In this way, Colombian diplomacy legitimizes players — such as the representatives of Venezuela Democratica — who prefer a peaceful and participatory route over conflict. Moreover, from the Colombian Embassy in Caracas, it is emphasized that the work of Colombian representatives in Venezuela “offers an alternative path to the military or interventionist confrontation championed by U.S. President Donald Trump.”

The majority opposition in Venezuela backs military pressure

Meanwhile, the majority democratic Venezuelan opposition — led by Maria Corina Machado — plays a complex role amid scenarios of U.S. military threats. Its central position is to focus responsibility for the military crisis between the U.S. and Venezuela on the government of Nicolas Maduro.

Without openly rejecting or supporting armed intervention — aware that supporting it would damage its internal legitimacy, divide its social base, and strengthen the official narrative accusing them of acting as foreign agents — the opposition maintains a delicate balance of not stating explicitly what it actually wants: the overthrow of Maduro by any means.

In this scenario, Machado advocates for an “orderly and effective” transition in her country, as she said this Thursday in her virtual address at an event of the Venezuelan-American Association in New York. “We have legitimate leadership and a clear mandate from the people,” she recalled.

At the event, the opposition leader highlighted the resilience of the Venezuelan people, who “have suffered, but refuse to give up,” and noted that the opposition faces repression with “dignity and moral strength,” including “exiles and political prisoners who have been separated from their families and have given everything for the democratic cause.”

In a new turn in her balancing effort, Machado thanked President Trump for recognizing that the transition in Venezuela is “a priority” and for his role as “a reference in international pressure on the Maduro regime.” “Is change coming? Absolutely yes,” Machado said, before concluding by asserting that “Venezuela will be free.”