Colombia will ask the United States to lift the sanctions that still weigh on Venezuela in order to facilitate the resumption of bilateral trade and allow companies from both countries to resume economic operations without financial restrictions.
The government believes these measures remain one of the main obstacles to fully normalizing trade relations with the neighboring country.
The request comes at a time when Bogotá and Caracas are seeking to expand their economic cooperation, especially in strategic sectors such as energy and petrochemicals, and after the surprise suspension of the meeting that the presidents of the two countries were supposed to hold last Friday.
Colombian authorities argue that easing the sanctions would allow progress on projects that have been stalled for years and strengthen trade along the shared border.
Colombia to ask US to lift sanctions to resume trade with Venezuela
Colombia’s Minister of Mines and Energy, Edwin Palma, announced that the government will hold a meeting with U.S. authorities to request the lifting of sanctions affecting economic relations with Venezuela. The goal is for Colombian companies to fully resume commercial operations with the neighboring country without facing the limitations resulting from the measures imposed by Washington.
The minister explained that the request is based on the country’s interest in reactivating economic and energy projects that depend on cooperation with Venezuela. These include the possibility of importing liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) from that country, as well as resuming joint initiatives in the energy sector that were suspended when international sanctions were tightened. In this regard, Palma said through his account on the social network X that licenses were approved to resume LPG imports from Venezuela totaling 1.26 million gallons per month.
According to the Colombian government, normalizing trade relations would make it possible to take advantage of the shared infrastructure between the two countries and strengthen regional economic integration. Venezuela has significant energy resources that could complement Colombia’s supply, while Colombia represents a nearby and natural market for many Venezuelan products.
Another issue Bogotá is seeking to unlock is related to the petrochemical company Monómeros, key to the production of fertilizers used by Colombia’s agricultural sector. The company, located in Barranquilla, has been at the center of political and financial tensions in recent years, and any change in its ownership structure or operations requires authorizations linked to the United States sanctions regime.
Palma clarified in his message that “regarding natural gas, although PDVSA [Venezuela’s state oil company] expressed its intention to terminate the current contract with Ecopetrol [Colombia’s state oil company] due to commercial conditions that today do not allow the recovery of the investments needed to rehabilitate the Antonio Ricaurte gas pipeline, there is political will from both companies to review the agreement next year in terms of prices and timelines.”
The minister added that “to move in that direction we need to lift sanctions that allow trade relations to be fully restored; therefore we will have a meeting with the government of the United States next Monday.”
Así es Señor Presidente @petrogustavo, la reunión ha sido supremamente exitosa.
En materia energética la agenda con Venezuela se intensificó ayer. Avanzamos en una conversación estratégica que puede transformar la seguridad energética de la región y abrir nuevas oportunidades de… https://t.co/wsxUl6rRSc
— Edwin Palma Egea (@PalmaEdwin) March 14, 2026
Energy integration and trade on the bilateral agenda
Colombia’s request comes amid a phase of closer political ties between Bogotá and Caracas. Delegations from both governments have recently held meetings to review issues related to border security, energy cooperation and trade, with the aim of consolidating the normalization of bilateral relations and pending the finalization of a definitive meeting between the presidents of the two countries, a meeting initially scheduled for this week that was ultimately suspended pending progress on these economic issues.
One of the most relevant projects under discussion is the possible reactivation of the binational Antonio Ricaurte gas pipeline, an infrastructure that connects the energy systems of both countries and that in the past allowed the supply of Venezuelan gas to Colombia. The project is considered strategic for Colombia’s energy security, but its development depends largely on the easing of sanctions affecting Venezuela’s oil sector.
The measures adopted by the United States in recent years have limited Venezuela’s ability to export hydrocarbons and conduct international financial transactions. Although Washington has granted temporary licenses for certain operations, many commercial activities remain subject to strict controls that affect foreign companies interested in doing business with the country.
For Colombia, lifting or easing these restrictions could drive a significant increase in bilateral trade. Before the diplomatic rupture between the two countries in 2019, trade exceeded US$7 billion annually, driven by intense activity along the border and by the complementarity of their economies.
Colombian authorities believe that the full reactivation of trade would also have positive effects on the region’s stability. Greater economic flows along the border could generate employment, strengthen local economies and help reduce the social problems stemming from years of economic crisis and mass migration.
The meeting that Colombia plans to hold with U.S. officials will be decisive in defining the scope of this strategy. If Washington agrees to review or ease the sanctions, Bogotá hopes to move forward with energy and trade agreements with Caracas that would allow part of the economic dynamism that historically characterized the relationship between the two countries to be restored.