Colombian President Gustavo Petro seems to have scored a major victory in his assembly Tuesday together with his US counterpart Donald Trump, described by either side in glowing phrases.
Remember: It was solely in current months that the Trump administration accused Petro – with out proof – of being concerned in drug trafficking, known as him “a sick man” and revoked his visa after the Latin American chief urged US troops to disobey their president.
For weeks it appeared the White House was taking an analogous strategy to Petro because it took towards the Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, threatening each nations with armed strikes.
Yet only one month after US forces captured Maduro and spirited him to New York in handcuffs to face narco-terrorism costs, right here was Petro leaving the Oval Office with a memento MAGA hat that he amended to “Make Americas Great Again.”
Three issues made for such a exceptional turnaround.
First, Colombian officers labored meticulously behind the scenes to fix fences. Former presidents, ambassadors, buying and selling teams and even a few of Petro’s political rivals reached out to contacts in Washington to ship the message that the Colombian-US relationship is the cornerstone of international coverage for Bogotá, no matter who sits within the presidential workplace.
Second, Trump demonstrated as soon as once more his exceptional readiness to activate a dime. When Trump realized how broad a gulf there’s between Venezuela and Colombia – the previous, a failed state dominated by an authoritarian regime for the previous 15 years; the latter, a US ally and thriving democracy on the trail to financial growth – it was solely a matter of time earlier than speak of bombs turned to speak of enterprise. Specifically, pure gasoline exports, sanctions reduction for Colombian producers and the opening of the Venezuelan market now that Maduro is gone.
Third, Petro actually did his homework in getting ready for this assembly and made a breakthrough doable by agreeing to place apart previous variations and wounded pleasure for the sake of the higher good.
After this assembly, these variations nonetheless stay, however maybe with the understanding that even inside disagreements there may be dialogue, respect, and mutual advantages.