Why Now
The question is not whether reunification is possible. The question is whether the peoples of Gran Colombia will seize the moment—or let it slip away again.
January 2026
Venezuela is in flux. The political situation that has defined the region for over two decades is changing rapidly. For the first time in a generation, the question of what comes next is genuinely open.
The old patterns are failing. US-backed sanctions didn't bring change—they brought suffering. Authoritarian control didn't bring stability—it brought exodus. Seven million Venezuelans have left their homeland, the largest displacement in the hemisphere's history.
Colombia has absorbed millions of Venezuelan refugees. Ecuador and Panama have taken hundreds of thousands more. In crisis, the peoples of Gran Colombia have already begun to reunite—not by government decree, but by necessity.
And now, President Gustavo Petro has spoken the words aloud: reconstruction of Gran Colombia as a confederation of autonomous nations. For the first time in two centuries, a sitting head of state has formally proposed reunification.
"When something doesn't work for 200 years, maybe it's time to try something else."
The Case
Individually, each nation negotiates with the US, China, and Europe from weakness. United, 104 million people controlling the Panama Canal and 303 billion barrels of oil negotiate from strength. A combined GDP of $711 billion would rank as the 25th-27th largest economy globally—a force that cannot be ignored.
The Venezuelan exodus becomes internal migration—Colombians moving to oil fields, Venezuelans to coffee farms. Labor goes where it's needed. The crisis becomes an opportunity.
Drug trafficking, guerrilla movements, and organized crime thrive on borders. Remove the borders, and the cartels lose their primary business model. One police force, one military, one coherent strategy.
Four small nations are ignored at the UN, the WTO, climate negotiations. One nation of 104 million with massive resources commands attention. United, Gran Colombia would be impossible to overlook.
Possibilities
Not a return to 1821, but something new—built for the 21st century.
Like the United States, Germany, or Brazil—a federal republic where each region maintains significant autonomy while sharing defense, foreign policy, and economic coordination. Caracas doesn't rule Bogotá; both participate in something larger.
Perhaps political union comes later. Start with what the EU started with: a common market. Free movement of goods, services, capital, and people. Shared currency. Coordinated development. Let integration build organically.
Venezuelan oil, Colombian emeralds, Ecuadorian biodiversity, Panama's canal—managed collectively for collective benefit. A sovereign wealth fund that invests in education, healthcare, and infrastructure across all regions.
Bolívar's Gran Colombia failed partly because it wasn't democratic enough. The new union must be built on genuine popular sovereignty—not caudillos, not elites, but citizens. Constitutional protections. Independent judiciary. Free press.
Honesty
National identities have solidified. After 200 years, Colombians feel Colombian, Venezuelans feel Venezuelan. Any reunification must honor these identities, not erase them.
Political elites benefit from division. Four presidents have more power than one. Customs officials collect more bribes at borders. Integration threatens entrenched interests.
Foreign powers prefer fragmentation. The US wants access to Venezuelan oil. China wants infrastructure deals. Neither wants a powerful, independent regional bloc.
The wounds of recent decades run deep. Venezuelan refugees in Colombia have faced discrimination. Border disputes have caused real conflict. Trust must be rebuilt.
These obstacles are real. But they're not immutable. The EU was formed by nations that had slaughtered each other's citizens by the millions just decades earlier. If France and Germany could unite, why not Colombia and Venezuela?
The Choice
Four nations, each too small to resist external pressure. Millions of refugees with nowhere to go. Resources extracted by foreign corporations. A permanent second-tier status in global affairs.
One nation, speaking with one voice. Resources developed for the benefit of the people who live above them. A power that cannot be ignored. The fulfillment of a 200-year-old dream.
"The glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall."
— Simón Bolívar
Gran Colombia fell once. That doesn't mean it has to stay fallen. The dream that Bolívar dreamed is still alive—in the millions who share a language, a culture, a history. In you.