Washington (EFE).- The US president, Joe Biden, will speak on Thursday with his Colombian counterpart, Gustavo Petro, about the lifting of sanctions against Venezuela, something that Washington would be willing to do, but only if it results in the holding of free elections. and fair.
“I imagine it will be a topic of conversation between the two presidents,” Juan González, Biden’s main adviser for Latin America, said on Tuesday during a forum organized by the EFE Agency, baptized as EFE Dialogues.
Specifically, González reiterated that the United States is willing to consider lifting economic sanctions on Venezuela.
But only if they are the result of a negotiation with other political forces so that the result is the holding of free and fair elections.
Dialogue between Biden and Petro
Petro, visiting the US, yesterday expressed his interest in discussing with Biden the lifting of sanctions on Venezuela during the meeting that both will hold on Thursday at the White House.
Colombia has convened an international meeting on Venezuela for April 25.
In which representatives of the United States and several European and Latin American countries are expected to participate.
In this regard, González highlighted the importance of international cooperation to address the crisis in Venezuela, especially after the policies implemented by the Donald Trump government (2017-2021).
“It has taken us three years to dismantle what were the failed policies of the Trump Administration to impose pressure through sanctions in the absence of an international conversation,” said González, who described what is happening in Venezuela as “a civil conflict of the XXI century”.
González himself traveled to Caracas last year to meet with Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
A visit that the White House adviser characterized as “perhaps not the smartest political move” for him personally, but he defended it for the fruits it brought.
In fact, after that meeting in the Venezuelan capital, two relatives of Maduro convicted of drug trafficking in New York were released.
In exchange for the release of seven Americans imprisoned in Venezuela, including five directors of the Citgo oil company.
EFE Dialogues
On the other hand, during the debate in EFE Dialogues, the analyst Cynthia Arnson, who directed the Latin America program of the Wilson Center, considered that it would be good for the US government to relax its sanctions in some way so that humanitarian aid can reach the Venezuelan people.
US sanctions establish exceptions for cases of humanitarian aid, but given the economic restrictions, many companies prefer not to take risks and do not invest in Venezuela.
EFE Dialogues wants to establish itself in the United States as a forum for dialogue on relations between North America and South America.
The forum held this Tuesday had the support of the Cultural Office of the Spanish Embassy in the United States and the airline Iberia.