MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Colombia and Venezuela will seek full Mercosur membership, Petro says

From a formal standpoint, the status of the two countries within the bloc differs. Colombia is currently an associate member of Mercosur, while Venezuela remains suspended

Colombian President Gustavo Petro said his country and Venezuela will seek admission to Mercosur as full members, one day after a ministerial meeting in Caracas that he described as “extremely successful,” according to EFE. In a message posted on X, Petro said: “We will ask for the moratorium to be lifted so Venezuela can enter Mercosur as a full member, and Colombia will submit its own request to join as a full member.”

The announcement followed talks in Caracas between delegations from the two governments focused on security, trade and energy, after a planned meeting between Petro and Venezuela’s acting president, Delcy Rodríguez, was canceled due to what both sides described as “force majeure.” The two countries’ foreign and defense ministers advanced a cooperation agenda on border security, anti-drug efforts and energy integration.

Formally, the two countries currently hold different positions in the bloc. Colombia is listed as an associate state of Mercosur, a status granted under Common Market Council Decision 44/2004 and still reflected in the bloc’s official documentation. Venezuela, by contrast, remains suspended from all rights and obligations inherent to its status as a State Party, under the 2017 decision adopted through the Ushuaia Protocol.

Mercosur’s current State Parties are Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and Bolivia, while Venezuela remains suspended. That matters because Petro’s statement implies two different institutional moves: in Venezuela’s case, a request to reverse the suspension, and in Colombia’s, a bid to move from associate status to full membership.

Petro also said energy integration with Venezuela was moving forward and added that he hoped U.S. sanctions would be lifted to make that possible. Energy officials from both countries discussed repairs to the long-idle Antonio Ricaurte binational pipeline as part of plans to restart Venezuelan gas supplies to Colombia.

On security, Petro said both governments had begun “comprehensive military coordination” to combat drug trafficking along the border. After the Caracas meeting, Delcy Rodríguez announced that the Binational Good Neighborliness Commission will meet on April 23 and 24 in Maracaibo, while a new date for the postponed presidential meeting has yet to be confirmed.