COLOMBIAN President Gustavo Petro is set to visit Venezuela on Friday for key talks on border security and trade with the country’s acting president, Delcy Rodriguez.

The meeting, their first, comes months after the United States military kidnapped Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and First Lady Celia Flores from their home in January, killing 100 people in the process.

Colombia is lobbying to become a buyer of Venezuelan gas and last month sought an exemption from US sanctions to invest in Venezuelan electricity projects and natural gas ventures, which could include the reopening of a gas pipeline between the neighbouring South American countries.

Mr Petro’s administration also reached agreements with Venezuela’s state-owned oil company PDVSA to replace the pipeline in the Colombian section.

The two leaders are also expected to discuss the presence of illegal armed groups and drug trafficking along their shared border in the Catatumbo region where rival groups have fought for control.

Mr Petro has stressed the necessity of “close collaboration on intelligence,” warning that without it, “bombs land in the wrong places and end up killing civilians.”

The leaders were expected to meet last month at their shared border, but their respective governments abruptly cancelled the meeting, citing “force majeure,” which they did not explain at the time.