Colombia does not rule out granting asylum to Nicolas Maduro if he leaves power and offers to mediate between Venezuela and the United States

The keys

new
Generated with AI

Colombian Foreign Minister Rosa Villavicencio said she would not refuse to grant asylum to Nicolas Maduro if he leaves power in Venezuela.

Villavicencio considers it unlikely that Maduro would choose Colombia as his exile destination, as he would prefer a more distant and quieter country.

Colombia is willing to mediate between the United States and Venezuela if both sides request it, thus emphasizing the importance of dialogue.

President Gustavo Petro has criticized Maduro’s regime, suggesting a democratic revolution and a general amnesty for opponents as a way out of Venezuela’s crisis.

Colombian Foreign Minister Rosa Villavicencio revealed this Thursday that “I wouldn’t have to.” deny it asylum to the president of Venezuela, Nicolas Maduroin case he leaves power, although he ruled out that the president considers the neighboring country as going into exile, amid growing hostilities from the United States, preferring a more distant country.

“In the moment of tension that exists, we must negotiate and surely if the United States demands a transitiona change, is something they
“They must evaluate whether this departure implies that he (Nicolás Maduro) must live in another country or request protection, Colombia would not have to say no,” he said in an interview with Radio Caracol.

Villavicencio believes, however, that if Maduro steps down from power, he does not think he will choose Colombia to go into exile. “I think that I would choose a more remote and quieter place” he said, without giving further details.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro during an event at the Miraflores Presidential Palace

Although Bogotá does not mediate to favor the departure of Maduro, the head of Colombian diplomacy admitted that would be ready to mediate between Washington and Caracas if they ask.

Along the same lines, he also confirmed that the governments of Nicolas Maduro and Donald Trump had held talks and insisted on the need for dialogue to end hostilities.

“For now we understand that they are talking, that it is something confidential, and we are pleading for an agreement so that this tense situation can be resolved now,” he said.

Petro’s criticism of Maduro

The Colombian minister also responded to threats made by Trump, who said that President Gustavo Petro would be “next” in his supposed objective against drug trafficking, denouncing a “psychological war.”

“We will always reject any aggression from one country against another because we are in a world where we have found and built, as humanity, a series of norms and principles which appear in the Charter of the United Nations and which, above all,
“Everyone advocates multilateralism,” he defended.

In this sense, Villavicencio ruled out denouncing the United States before the International Criminal Court for attacks on alleged drug boats in the Caribbean and the Pacific, which so far have left almost 90 dead.

Finally, the minister indicated that the government of Petro invited Trump to visit Colombia “and better know the territories” in a letter that contains information on Colombia’s management in the fight against drug trafficking.

These issues were also addressed by President Petro, who did not hesitate to launch an unusual criticism of the Maduro regime by assuring that Venezuela needs a “democratic revolution” and not “ineffective repression.”

In this sense, he proposed a general amnesty for opponents instead of increasing incarcerations and insisted on his idea of having a broad transitional government to put an end to the crisis facing the oil country.