Venezuela’s most distinguished opposition chief, Juan Guaidó, stated late Monday that he had been compelled out of Colombia, hours after crossing the border into the nation after receiving threats from the Venezuelan authorities.
Talking in a video posted on Twitter, Mr. Guaidó stated he had entered Colombia with plans to fulfill with political representatives who had gathered to debate the way forward for Venezuela. However slightly than welcome him, he stated, the Colombians had kicked him out.
“The persecution of the dictatorship has prolonged, sadly, to Colombia at the moment,” he stated, talking from what gave the impression to be an airplane. He stated he was on his solution to the US.
Late Monday, Colombia’s overseas ministry issued a press release saying that Mr. Guaidó was in Bogotá “irregularly,” and that migration officers had taken him to the airport “with the intention of verifying his departure on a business airline to the US.”
A consultant from the federal government of Colombia’s president, Gustavo Petro, didn’t reply to a request for extra info.
In 2019, Mr. Guaidó rose from little-known Venezuelan lawmaker to nationwide hero after declaring Mr. Maduro an illegitimate ruler and himself the interim head of state. On the time, he posed probably the most vital risk to a deeply undemocratic and unpopular president, who had helped plunge Venezuela into an financial and humanitarian disaster.
Dozens of countries acknowledged Mr. Guaidó because the nation’s new chief, most prominently the US. However Mr. Guaidó finally didn’t oust Mr. Maduro, and late final 12 months, his personal colleagues within the opposition voted to dissolve his interim authorities and take away his title as interim president. Their evaluation was that the parallel-government technique wouldn’t be capable of create political change, and {that a} new path was wanted.
Mr. Maduro has jailed a whole bunch of political opponents over time, and many have already fled for different international locations, together with Colombia. However Mr. Guaidó remained in Caracas along with his household, below the belief that arresting such a distinguished chief would make Mr. Maduro even much less widespread at dwelling and overseas.