Colombian President Welcomes Lula da Silva

Colombian President Gustavo Petro holds a welcoming ceremony for his Brazilian counterpart, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, at the Casa Narino Presidential Palace in Bogota.

The presidents of Brazil and Colombia discussed "the possibility of a plebiscite" to reach a "democratic pact" between the government and the opposition in Venezuela.

"I transmitted to President Lula a proposal that was transmitted to President Maduro and the opposition. It has to do with a possibility of a plebiscite in the upcoming elections in Venezuela,” said the president of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, after a meeting in Bogotá with his Brazilian counterpart, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

The referendum would be held simultaneously with the presidential elections on July 28, in which Maduro is running for a third term. According to Petro, he would seek "a democratic pact" where the loser of the elections has "certainty and security over his life and political guarantees for him."

On his side, Lula avoided evaluating the proposal: "we have discussed the issue of Venezuela however, it was much more important to discuss the relationship between Colombia and Brazil," he said according to the official translation of the intervention he gave.

"What can I tell you about Venezuela? As far as Colombia and Brazil depend, this continent will continue to be a zone of peace," added the Brazilian president.

Left-wing presidents and allies of Maduro, Lula and Petro have hardened their position in the face of elections marked by the political disqualification of the Venezuelan president's main rival, María Corina Machado, and then the veto of her replacement in the candidacy, Corina Yoris.

The leaders of Brazil and Colombia also discussed the situation in Haiti, mired in a serious political and security crisis due to gang violence.

"We want to think about a democratic possibility for the Haitian people," Petro said, without giving more details.