Petro–Rodríguez Meeting Canceled Citing Force Majeure as Ministers Advance Energy and Border Security Talks

Overview

• The cancellation scrapped Rodríguez’s first foreign trip, with authorities dismantling the stage on the Cúcuta–Táchira bridge and a Colombian official telling AFP that everything was canceled.
• A joint communiqué from Bogotá and Caracas cited force majeure without details, while a Colombian presidential source told AFP the decision followed security threats along the border.
• Despite the setback, foreign and defense chiefs met in Caracas to coordinate border policing, revive commerce, and advance a PDVSA–Ecopetrol plan to repair the Antonio Ricaurte gas pipeline for Venezuelan gas supplies to Colombia, with a follow-up by the foreign ministers set for April 23.
• Interim leader Delcy Rodríguez urged Washington to lift sanctions, announced the start of LPG exports to Colombia, and signaled interest in buying Colombian electricity and deepening intelligence sharing on border crime as the U.S. further eased petrochemical-related measures.
• One day earlier, President Donald Trump held a roughly 30‑minute call with President Gustavo Petro, welcomed him to the United States, apologized for a recent Miami omission, and discussed energy, eradication efforts, drug trafficking and border economic reactivation.