Petro and Rodríguez were set to meet on Friday at the Atanasio Girardot international bridge linking Colombia’s Norte de Santander department with Venezuela’s Táchira state, marking Rodríguez’s first official face-to-face meeting with a regional leader since taking over in the aftermath of Nicolás Maduro’s removal following U.S. action. The Colombian foreign ministry confirmed to The Associated Press that the planned meeting was canceled, and it did not explain why.
After the cancellation, Venezuela’s government said the meeting would not take place on Friday, citing “motivos de fuerza mayor,” and said it decided to “postponer” the encounter for a later date that was not announced. Venezuela added that Petro would keep his invitation for the meeting with Rodríguez and said both governments reiterated their “voluntad de fortalecer la confianza, la cooperación y el relacionamiento bilateral.”
Colombia’s Norte de Santander governor’s office also told the press that the meeting was suspended and that officials expected it would be rescheduled. With the Friday appointment removed from the schedule, the diplomatic focus shifts back to preparations for a bilateral meeting that the two sides had framed as an effort to build cooperation after recent political upheaval.
The governments had expected discussions covering bilateral cooperation, particularly energy. Colombia has been interested in importing gas from Venezuela, and the day before the planned summit Colombia announced an agreement with the Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA to repair the gas pipeline in the Colombian segment, seeking a way to move gas through the system.
The border itself adds urgency to any cooperation agenda. The Associated Press reported that the Colombia-Venezuela border spans more than 2,219 kilometers and that both countries have to deal with illegal armed groups involved in drug trafficking and contraband, as well as groups that move to evade authorities.
The diplomatic talks also sit alongside security and international alignment questions tied to the wider region. Colombia has said it could pursue joint actions with the United States against the Ejército de Liberación Nacional, a guerrilla group that operates in both Colombia and Venezuela. In Venezuela’s case, the AP report said the Maduro government had served as a mediator in peace negotiations between Colombia and the guerrilla, a process that is currently suspended.
Separately from the canceled bridge meeting, the Colombian presidency said shortly before the cancellation that Petro had a phone call with his U.S. counterpart, Donald Trump, and that Petro wished him “éxito” in his meeting with Rodríguez. The canceled border encounter leaves unclear when the planned presidential discussions on cooperation—especially energy and regional security—will resume.