Colombian President Gustavo Petro told President Joe Biden in their first meeting Thursday that he supports lifting sanctions on the far-left government in Venezuela in return for restoring democracy.
Petro, Colombia’s first leftist president, met with Biden in the White House and told reporters afterward that he discussed a strategy for resolving the crisis in far-left leader Nicolas Maduro’s Venezuela, which is deeply isolated by US and European sanctions.
“A strategy was proposed…, which is to hold elections first and then lift sanctions. Or gradually — as an electoral agenda is fulfilled, those sanctions are also lifted in parallel,” Petro said.
He said he and Biden had discussed a conference on Venezuela hosted by Colombia next week, with foreign ministers from Europe, Latin America, and the United States.
Washington supports the lifting of sanctions for democracy, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters Thursday.
“We’ve long been clear that that we will —we would—review our sanctions policies in response to constructive steps by the Maduro regime and if the Venezuelan parties can make meaningful progress in return to a democracy.”
Calling Colombia a “key” to the hemisphere, Biden said Petro had been “outspoken and strong” on human rights in a region with a long history of abuses and armed conflict.
The US president highlighted Colombia’s welcoming of large numbers of refugees from neighboring Venezuela, which has suffered years of economic collapse and violent political tension.
Petro told reporters after his talks that he had asked Biden for help in developing a new, more targeted approach to the decades-long, US-backed military campaign against drug lords in Colombia.
The key is to “the drug trafficking business community, which is done through intelligence work, tracing their assets and their money,” he said. “I requested a little more help in that regard. We need more vessels, more boats, more drones.”
In his Oval Office remarks, Petro highlighted that he sees “democracy, freedom and peace” as a “common agenda.”
And he emphasized the need for an “in-depth” shift from fossil fuels to a green economy — something Biden has prioritized during his presidency, with a historic funding bill to encourage climate-friendly technology.
“We have the greatest potential for democracy and freedom in the Americas, as well as the greatest potential for green energies,” Petro said.
Petro was elected in June in part of a wave of left-leaning leaders to win power in Latin America.
Colombia’s presidential office said the visit to the White House was “a milestone in consolidating the relationship between Colombia and the United States in this new moment.”