RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The Brazilian president, Jair Bolsonaro, received his Colombian counterpart, Iván Duque, on Tuesday (19) with state honors for an appointment postponed due to the pandemic will serve to analyze regional issues, such as the Venezuelan crisis.
Despite its official nature, the ceremony had the protocol of a state visit, a deference to the Colombian president, who reviewed a group of soldiers of the Dragons of Independence regiment dressed in their historical uniforms.
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Bolsonaro received Duque with an affectionate embrace at the top of a ramp leading to the second floor of the Planalto presidential palace. With 21 cannon shots in the background, they listened to the anthems of both countries.
The presidents will have a private meeting which will be joined later by ministers of both governments. Then they are scheduled to make a joint statement to journalists before a lunch at the neighboring Itamaraty Palace, headquarters of the Foreign Ministry.
The plan includes various bilateral issues, with a solid economic accent and which were already addressed in meetings Duque had on Monday with business people in São Paulo and others of a political and regional nature, such as the situation in Venezuela.
The far-right Bolsonaro and the conservative Duque call the government of Nicolás Maduro a dictatorship and consider the oppositionist Juan Guaidó as the “legitimate” president of Venezuela. This country will hold controversial regional elections next November.
Before returning to Colombia, Duque will be received at the seat of Parliament by the president of the Senate, Rodrigo Pacheco.
Duque’s visit was scheduled for the end of last year but was postponed several times due to the substantial incidence of the Covid-19 pandemic, which in recent months has lost strength thanks to the progress of vaccination in both countries.