Venezuela, Colombia aim to restore relations with appointments of ambassadors

Venezuela and Colombia have appointed ambassadors to each other's capitals, aiming to restore relations between the two countries that have been broken for more than three years.

Thursday's appointments come days after the inauguration of Colombia's first leftist president, Gustavo Petro, who in his election campaign hinted at the normalization of diplomatic relations with his country's oil-rich neighbor.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro appointed Felix Plasencia, a former foreign minister, as ambassador to Bogota.

Petro named former senator Armando Benedetti as Colombia's ambassador to Caracas.

"In response to the Venezuelan government, I have appointed an ambassador who will (also) be tasked with normalizing diplomatic relations between the two countries," Petro said in a video.

Venezuela announced Tuesday that it plans to reestablish military ties with Colombia after years of political and military crisis between the two countries.

Venezuelan Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez said President Maduro had ordered him to immediately establish contact with Colombian Defense Minister Ivan Velasquez for this purpose.

Petro was sworn in on Sunday as Colombia's new president.

Days before Petro's inauguration, the new Colombian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Alvaro Leyva, met with his Venezuelan counterpart Carlos Faria, who announced that the two nations had agreed to reestablish diplomatic ties.

The governments also agreed to "boost security and peace" on their shared border.

Since President Ivan Duque took office in 2018, Colombia had supported Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido and his efforts to oust Maduro, who broke diplomatic relations with the neighboring country and ordered the departure of diplomats from its territory.

Maduro was not able to attend Petro's inauguration Sunday because Duque had banned him from entering the country.

"Ivan Duque, president of Colombia, does not recognize Nicolas Maduro as the legitimate president of Venezuela. This means that as long as I am president, Nicolas Maduro will not enter Colombian territory," said Duque.

The 2,219-kilometer (1,379-mile) border between Colombia and Venezuela is used by drug trafficking groups to engage in criminal activity.