President Iván Duque was emphatic in pointing out that as long as he is the president of the Colombians, he will not allow Nicolás Maduro to enter the country, not even for the inauguration ceremony of Gustavo Petro, remembering that these types of events are organized by the Foreign Ministry and Military House, which responds to the Government of the day.
So far, Gustavo Petro, already as president-elect, has not revealed whether he will invite Nicolás Maduro to the ceremony on August 7. Around 3:00 pm on that Sunday, Petro is expected to have already been sworn in as acting president.
“The possessions of the presidents are organized with the Foreign Ministry and the Military House. Iván Duque, president of Colombia, does not recognize Nicolás Maduro as legitimate president of Venezuela. That means that as long as I am the president of the republic, Nicolás Maduro will not enter Colombian territory,” said Duque in dialogue with Weekly magazine.
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In that sense, he explained that, “if the next president wants to have him here in Colombia, he will be able to do so once he has been sworn in as president. If he wants to make that recognition and if he wants to make that invitation while I am the president of ColombiaNicolás Maduro is not recognized as head of state of Venezuela”.
In the interview with Vicky Dávila, the president also referred to relations with the neighboring country, saying that during his government almost two million migrants were welcomed.
“Clearly Nicolás Maduro is a criminal against humanity. He is being investigated by the International Criminal Court, they have arrest warrants for drug trafficking in the United States, him, Tarek William Saab, Diosdado Cabello, and another group from his closest circle. Also, there are more than 50 countries that do not recognize him as a legitimate ruler,” he said.
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Also, referred to the concern expressed by different political and economic sectors of a possible rapprochement with Maduro once Petro takes office as the new president.
“I believe that the first thing that must be demanded of Maduro is to hand over the Colombian terrorists who are protected in that territory, to whom he has given sanctuary, money and has included them in all the lines of business of the ‘cartel of the suns’. It also seems to me that, if there are going to be rapprochements, they have to demand that he stop the drug trafficking enclave that is triggering the increase in illicit crops on the border, specifically in Catatumbo,” he said.
And he warned that “having a diplomatic, mellifluous and salon relationship with him, as we have had in other times, is not a good recipe. In addition, The future of Venezuela is based on the fact that there are free, transparent elections with international oversight so that the democratic resistance can really, with guarantees, confront the dictator”.
