Colombian President Gustavo Petro, left, and Venezuela's acting President Delcy Rodriguez shake hands after a meeting at Miraflores Palace in Caracas, Venezuela, on April 24, 2026. ARIANA CUBILLOS / AP
Venezuelan President Delcy Rodriguez and her Colombian counterpart Gustavo Petro pledged military cooperation on Friday, April 24, to combat "mafias" on their shared border, as Petro became the first foreign leader to visit Venezuela since the ouster of strongman Nicolas Maduro. Petro met with Rodriguez, who took over on an interim basis after the toppling of her former boss Maduro by US forces in January.
Petro said the joint military effort will be aimed at "freeing border areas from the mafias engaged in a range of illegal businesses, starting with cocaine, illicit gold, human trafficking and rare minerals."
"Both countries have undertaken the task of making... military plans, but also the immediate establishment of mechanisms for sharing information and for developing intelligence," Rodriguez said for her part. Rodriguez assumed power in Venezuela after a lightning US military raid on Caracas on January 3 captured socialist president Maduro and brought him to New York to face drug trafficking charges.
