Border security set to loom large as Colombia’s leader meets interim Venezuelan President Delcy Rodriguez.Colombian President Gustavo Petro has become the first foreign leader to visit Venezuela since the United States military abducted Nicolas Maduro on January 3.On Friday, Petro was greeted by Venezuela’s interim President Delcy Rodriguez at the Miraflores Presidential Palace in Caracas. Their visit comes after a previously scheduled meeting in the Colombian border town of Cucuta was abruptly cancelled in March.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of listThe pair embraced and waved before heading inside the palace. Their meeting is expected to be dominated by issues of security, as the two countries share a 2,200-kilometre (1,367-mile) border.While the border region is a significant area of trade, it is also a major migration route as well as home to criminal drug smuggling and paramilitary groups.Previous Colombian governments had accused Maduro, Venezuela’s former president, of working with those criminal groups.Those claims, in part, formed the basis for the US criminal charges against the longtime leader, who is awaiting trial in US detention. He had served as the leader of Venezuela since 2013.Gustavo became Colombia’s first left-wing leader in 2022. He became an important ally to Maduro, with the pair agreeing to increase the military presence along the border.Petro has been a vocal critic of the US abduction of Maduro, which he called an “assault on sovereignty” in Latin …
