Colombia and Venezuela trade barbs
Jan. 23, 2025
Colombian President Gustavo Petro said he spoke with Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and agreed to block illegal crossings between the two countries, in the midst of ongoing wave of violent carried out by the National Liberation Army (ELN) in Colombia’s Catatumbo region, near the Venezuelan border. (Infobae, Silla Vacia)
Yesterday Petro accused Venezuela, without naming it explicitly, of harboring the ELN, saying that the attacks are a danger to Colombia’s sovereignty. Maduro’s government took the hint and retorted: “That man is a zombie, he has ruined all his prestige. There is nothing left of the leftist person he once was,” a Maduro official told El País.
It is the latest complication in the relationship between the two countries that has soured as Maduro refused overtures from Brazil and Colombia to mediate the country’s political crisis after last year’s elections. Petro today referred to Maduro as “he who exercises the presidency,” as Colombia does not recognize the legitimacy of Maduro’s third presidential term, which started earlier this month.
More Colombia
Colombia reinstated arrest warrants for dozens of ELN guerrilla commanders blamed for armed attacks over the past week that displaced 32,000 people, killed at least 80, and sparked the country's most serious security crisis in years, reports AFP.
Petro visited Haiti yesterday, part of an effort to strengthen ties between both countries. He arrived in the southern coastal city of Jacmel, bypassing the Port-au-Prince airport which has repeatedly come under attack by criminal gangs. The visit comes just days after 17 former Colombian soldiers accused in the 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moïse appeared in a Haitian court, leading to speculation they might be released, reports the Associated Press.
The timing of the visit has raised eyebrows, given that both countries are in the midst of violent upheavals, notes the Miami Herald.
A mass grave discovered in Medellín tourism hotspot, the historic neighborhood Comuna 13, has reignited the debate over paramilitarism in Colombia, writes Joshua Collins in Nacla.
Migration
U.S. President Donald Trump is preparing to send around 10,000 troops to the the country’s southern border, where they will support Border Patrol agents under new orders to shut off access to asylum, reports the Washington Post. The order directs border agents to block entry to migrants on the grounds that they have passed through countries where communicable diseases are present, without citing any specific health threat.
Mexico has unrolled an ambitious plan — called “Mexico Embraces You” — to receive thousands of deported citizens from the U.S., involving nine reception centers along the border — massive tents set up in parking lots, stadiums and warehouses — with mobile kitchens operated by the armed forces. (New York Times)
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro said his country would welcome back migrants despairing as the U.S. blocks legal pathways of entry. (EuroNews)
More Regional Relations
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio could travel to Panama on a trip to Latin America next week that could also inclue Guatemala, El Salvador and Costa Rica. According to Bloomberg, the visit underscores U.S. President Donald Trump’s seriousness about recovering ownership of the Panama Canal.
The meeting comes as President Donald Trump’s allies on Capitol Hill are working to translate his recent complaints about the Panama Canal into legislative action, reports the Washington Post.
Rubio spoke yesterday with Venezuelan opposition leaders María Corina Machado and Edmundo González Urrutia, referring to the latter as “Venezuela’s rightful president.” According to a press release, Rubio “reaffirmed the United States’ support for the restoration of democracy in Venezuela as well as the unconditional and immediate release of all political prisoners in line with the peaceful democratic aspirations of the Venezuelan people.” (Efecto Cocuyo)
Trump’s executive order designating Mexican cartels and other criminal organizations as foreign terrorists could force some American companies to forgo doing business in Mexico rather than risk U.S. sanctions, with potentially significant economic impact on both sides of the border, reports the New York Times.
Argentine President Javier Milei is walking back his hawkish stance on China: asked in Davos this week, he referred to “some very positive meetings” with Chinese Embassy officials and with President Xi Jinping during last year’s G20 summit. “We consider we have complementary economies and we have a lot to do together, they’re great trade partners,” Milei said. “The idea is to deepen the commercial relationship.” (Bloomberg)
While Milei’s approach to China might differ from Trump’s, he ratified his position in the culture war trenches: A “global hegemony” of left-wing politics and ideology is “starting to crumble,” he told the World Economic Forum, yesterday. (CNBC)
Argentina
IMF mission staff are in Argentina discussing a possible new debt deal, confirming recent comments from the IMF chief about promising conditions for the talks. Argentina's government is seeking a new loan this year, on top of the $44 billion the previous administration renegotiated in 2022, reports Reuters.
Venezuela
“The leader of one of Venezuela’s most prominent gangs, known as “Wilexis,” has been killed by authorities, ending a six-year manhunt for a crime boss whose opposition to the government put him in the crosshairs,” reports InSight Crime.