Juan Guaidó’s Foreign Minister meets with officials from Joe Biden’s government

Since becoming President of the United States, Joe Biden expressed his support for the interim government of Juan Guaidó in Venezuela, and underlined his rejection of the dictatorship of Nicolás Maduro. Almost three months after his arrival at the White House, the first meeting between the officials of the two governments took place on Monday.

Julio Borges, Presidential Commissioner for External Relations of Venezuela, held a meeting in Bogotá with Special Assistant to Biden and Senior Director of the National Security Council for the Western Hemisphere Juan Gonzalez, and the Under Secretary of State for the Western Hemisphere, Julie Chung.

Tomás Guanipa, Ambassador of Venezuela to Colombia, was also present at the meeting held in the Colombian capital.

Borges said it was a very productive meeting in which “political and humanitarian issues related to Venezuela were discussed”: “We talked about the need for international coordination to achieve change in Venezuela through free elections.”

Likewise, Foreign Minister Guaidó also stressed the importance of the United States in the fight against the Maduro regime: “The role of the United States is fundamental in strengthening the international coalition for democracy in Venezuela. Today more than ever, diplomatic articulation is vital to reach a solution for the country ”.

The meeting with Guaidó officials took place in the middle of González and Chung’s tour of the region, which will also include visits to Argentina and Uruguay.

In addition, the meeting between the delegations of Venezuela and the United States took place as fighting continues on the Colombian-Venezuelan border. A commission made up of members of the Colombian government, international embassies and United Nations agencies visited this area in recent hours to assess the humanitarian situation. which is experienced after the military operation of the Venezuelan army against the Colombian armed groups.

Some 6,000 Venezuelans and Colombians have fled to Colombia, fleeing fighting in the Venezuelan state of Apure since the end of March, as part of an operation against alleged FARC dissent .

“We are grateful for the support of the international community in dealing with the humanitarian crisis at the border and special recognition to the mayor of Arauca and all the local authorities who have handled this humanitarian crisis since the declaration of public calamity” , declared the Colombian Minister of Defense, Diego Molano.

The visit included representatives of the legations of Germany, Brazil, Canada, the United Kingdom, the European Union and organizations such as UNHCR, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the Office of United Nations human rights.

“It’s a shame to see families displaced. Colombia, Brazil and other countries have welcomed many migrants but they were economic, but they came for another reason, which is the internal conflict in Venezuela ”, assured the Brazilian ambassador. Luis Antonio Balduino.

With information from EFE

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