Colombia’s ambassador meets with Venezuelan president on reestablishing ties

BOGOTA, Colombia
Colombia’s ambassador to Venezuela, Armando Benedetti, met Monday with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. Maduro welcomed Benedetti at the Palacio de Miraflores, the presidential residence in Caracas, to discuss the need to reestablish diplomatic and commercial ties between their two nations after years of deteriorating relations. The two held a friendly meeting in which they exchanged traditional gifts from each country. The reunion was made public by Benedetti, who presented his credentials as ambassador of his country in Caracas. "We spoke with President Nicolas Maduro about the urgency of reestablishing the ties of friendship that should never have been broken," he said on Twitter. Relations between the two countries were severed in 2019 when former Colombian President Ivan Duque supported Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido and his efforts to oust Maduro three years ago. Embassies and consulates in both countries were closed, as well as the border between the two countries. Leftist leader Gustavo Petro was sworn in earlier this month as the new president of Colombia with the pledge of rebuilding diplomatic relations with Venezuela. “I welcomed Armando Benedetti, Ambassador-designate of Colombia to Venezuela. We are peoples with a glorious history of rebellion and freedom, united in deep Bolivarian brotherhood. May our union be unbreakable,” Maduro said on his Twitter account. The president´s emissary, Felix Plasencia, is scheduled to meet Petro in the coming days. ​​​​​​​ Reestablishing trade relations is one of the main objectives of Benedetti, who said that more than 8 million Colombians live from binational trade with Venezuela. Anadolu Agency website contains only a portion of the news stories offered to subscribers in the AA News Broadcasting System (HAS), and in summarized form. Please contact us for subscription options.

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Colombia's president appoints former rebel as head of intelligence

New National Intelligence Directorate chief Casanova was a member of the M-19 urban guerilla movement.

The facade of the national intelligence agency DAS in Bogota November 1, 2011. (Reuters)

Colombian President Gustavo Petro has named a former guerrilla comrade as the conflict-wracked South American country's intelligence chief. Manuel Alberto Casanova, who like Petro was a member of the long-disbanded M-19 urban guerrilla movement, becomes the first civilian to hold the position as general manager of the National Intelligence Directorate (DNI), according to an official decree published on Monday. The radical leftist M-19 was active between 1974 and 1990, when it signed a peace deal with the government and became a political party. Casanova took on the role of head of security for the new party, the M-19 Democratic Alliance. An almost unknown on the political landscape, Casanova was in charge of spying and financing in the M-19 guerrilla group, local press say. According to his LinkedIn profile, Casanova has a degree in philosophy and also studied public administration. He has worked as a consultant on social projects and most recently worked for a coffee exporting company. The DNI reports directly to the president and oversees all intelligence operations. It was created in 2011 to replace the scandal-tainted Administrative Security Department (DAS). "It's worrying. (Casanova) is someone with no experience in intelligence management," Jose Vicente Carreno, a legislator for the right-wing opposition Democratic Center party, told W Radio. He said it would "demotivate the public security forces." READ MORE: Colombia's largest remaining rebel force, government to restart peace talks [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wi9LFsTDSLg[/embed] 'Different direction to state intelligence' For the pro-government senator and human rights activist Gloria Florez, the appointment shows a clear change of direction. "In the old DAS, we were the victims of an infamous persecution, of set-ups for which several people are still in prison. What we want is to give a different direction to state intelligence," she told W Radio. The latest appointment follows a complete overhaul of the military and police chiefs since Petro's election in June as his country's first ever left-wing president, something which has caused suspicion within the ranks of the security forces. Around 30 army generals and police chiefs have left their posts. Petro, who has said he wants to break from the old policy of an "enemy within" that has underscored six decades of internal conflict, wants to transform the security forces. He has said he wants from them "the reduction of violence and criminality, and a substantial increase in respect for human rights and public liberties." READ MORE: Gustavo Petro sworn in as Colombia’s first leftist president Source: AFP

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