The Colombian ambassador to Venezuela, Armando Benedetti, revealed, in an interview with Efe, that the state petrochemical company of the Caribbean country Monómeros – located in the Colombian city of Barranquilla – will be managed by the board of directors registered by President Nicolás Maduro, after more than three years controlled by the opposition Juan Guaidó.

After several weeks of speculation about the control of the Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) branch in the neighboring country, the ambassador assured that the decision has been made and that the only option is to get it back into the hands of the Maduro governmentsince it is the president that Petro recognizes, unlike his predecessor, Iván Duque, who identified Guaidó as “interim president”.

“President Petro, recognizing Maduro, acknowledges that the owner is the Venezuelan government. This has brought some complications with the United States, but he always told the United States, his ambassadors and economic advisors (…) that Monómeros would return to Venezuela, in accordance with our regulations “, assured Benedetti.

The diplomat, who prefers to call himself a politician, since the ambassadors seem to him “silly boys”, reiterated that Monómeros will not be a problem in Colombia’s relations with Venezuela, but “on the contrary”.

The extradition of the opponents

Numerous opponents have left the Caribbean nation and settled in Colombia in the face of what they regard as political persecution by the Maduro government, a situation that has brought the vice president of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) to power, Diosdado Cabello. to express publicly their desire to be extradited be tried in your country.

But Cabello, who said they are being claimed by Venezuelan justice, did not explain the crimes attributed to them. Before his request, the Colombian president immediately replied via his Twitter account: “Colombia recognizes the right to asylum and refuge”.

Eight clear and strong words that prevented the question from going further, and that Benedetti applauded, and so he passed on to the chavista himself during his first visit to Venezuela, which began last Sunday and ended this Wednesday, awaiting the facilities of the Colombian legate are qualified to work after more than three years of inactivity.

“I talked to him (Cabello) and I told him: you have to put yourself in an optimistic language, let this be joy, let it be carnival, leave the negative sentences. Petro responded very well, that all those who have applied for political asylum would have the guarantee (…) that we will respect the legislation. No (…) to re-establish diplomatic relations, extradite all those they want, “she explained.

The reopening of the border

One of the issues faced by both Petro and Maduro as the Colombian president declared himself the winner of the presidential elections was the reopening of the extended border – more than 2,200 kilometers -, closed to vehicular traffic since 2015. However, there is still no set date to keep the promise to open traffic.

For Benedetti it is not such a complex issue as for Maduro, who, according to the diplomat, it places obstacles that Colombia does not place.

He himself – he explains – proposed to the Venezuelan president “that people pass (from one country to another) only with their identity cards. Just as it happened when the world fell in Berlin, who presented his identity card passed “.

But Maduro insisted he “go slower” and showed his concern about drug trafficking. Benedetti, not satisfied with the answer, reiterated: “I try to insist”.

For the full trade opening which has a significant impact on the economy of both nations, the ambassador believes that several months must pass, therefore, implement “a special economic zone”tax exemptions and “allowing Colombia to invest in municipalities bordering Venezuela” with various infrastructures, “such as a school, a bridge, a hospital”.

Colombians in Venezuela

Benedetti explained that the priority is the Colombians living in Venezuela, which although “Maduro says there are six million, There are four million “.

He is worried about their lives, how they got to the Caribbean country, how they crossed the border, if they went through the hands of a mafia, the passage through trochas (illegal crossings), drug trafficking, sexual protection of women . Given the complex situations they have gone through, it is clear to him: “that is the first thing, compatriots”.

And, although so far I have neither had the opportunity nor the time to have direct contact with them, it is clear that it is the first question which he will have to deal with when he finally settles in Caracas.

But, in order for Colombians in Venezuela to receive the attention that Benedetti intends to offer them, it is necessary to allow the residence of the ambassador, the consulate, the embassy itself, because “there is nothing”, after the abandonment of more three years.

Face to face Maduro and Petro?

After the media reported that Maduro and Petro would have their first meeting in October, using Benedetti himself as a source, he clarified: “It was my proposal” which does not mean – he clarified – that it will happen.

Furthermore, he specified that any future encounter or relationship has nothing to do with more or less similar ideologies, but rather relations are established “from state to state”regardless of whether or not they coincide in the political trend.

“It is not true that the affinity is made of ideology, as everyone tries to say. Here relations are essentially made because there are eight million Colombians who have made a mess (affected by the binational relationship)”, he stressed.

Again, he recalled that there are “four million here (Venezuela)” and as many that are seen directly or indirectly affectedon the negative side, if relations between nations are bad, which, he insisted, should not happen with “brother” countries, even if they are not on the “same level”.

And as Benedetti himself made clear as soon as the interview began, he is a politician and will be involved in politics from his new position as ambassador.

EFE agency

PB