Duque described his Venezuelan colleague, Nicolás Maduro, as the leader of a “disgraceful and genocidal dictatorship” and justified the White House’s decision not to invite Caracas to the Summit of the Americas.
The president of Colombia, Iván Duque, affirmed this Wednesday that after he leaves power, next August, he will continue “fighting” in favor of the return to democracy in Venezuela.
Duque, who will deliver his four-year term to the candidate who is elected in the second round of the elections, on June 19, referred to the issue when participating in a conference of business executives opened in this city parallel to the Summit of the Americas .
“I have been working with the international community as president, and once my term ends I want to continue fighting with this cause so that there is a return to democracy in Venezuela,” said Duque.
The Colombian leader, who spoke in English, pointed out that “the current political situation in Venezuela cannot be taken for granted” and one cannot think “that this has ended here”, apparently alluding to the end of his administration.
In that sense, he pointed out the measures adopted during his administration to maintain an “open door” policy that has benefited Venezuelan immigrants who have sought to settle in Colombia.
That policy includes granting temporary protection status to 1.8 million Venezuelans, of whom just over a million have already benefited and the rest will obtain it in the coming weeks.
“This is the most important thing to open our arms to other Latin American countries,” he said.
He assured, however, that historically Colombia and Venezuela are “Siamese brothers” and recalled that they had their first joint Constitution.
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Speaking to journalists in the corridors of the Summit of CEOs of the Americas, Duque described his Venezuelan colleague, Nicolás Maduro, as the leader of a “disgraceful and genocidal dictatorship” and justified the White House’s decision not to invite Caracas. for the Summit of the Americas taking place in Los Angeles.
Duque recalled that this was stated in the Inter-American Democratic Charter that was approved by the Organization of American States (OAS) on September 11, 2001 and in the so-called Quebec Clause.
“The Quebec Clause is very clear in saying that the Summits of the Americas system is not for those places that have fractured the institutional framework and have put democracy at risk,” added Duque.
In addition to Venezuela, the United States has not formally invited Nicaragua or Cuba to this summit, which has led to the absence of other regional leaders, such as the Mexican Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who is represented by Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard.
With information from Eph
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