The arrival of Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó in Bogotá on Monday complicated the Colombian government’s efforts to unblock the political stalemate in its neighbor, according to officials in both countries.
By Yahoo News – Andreina Itriago Acosta and Patricia Laya
Apr 25, 2023
Guaidó called for a protest in Bogotá’s main plaza on Tuesday, to demand that Venezuelans overseas be allowed to participate in upcoming elections, just as Colombian President Gustavo Petro kicks off a summit of international leaders two blocks away.
“For the Petro administration it’s a liability to have Guaidó in its territory,” said Geoff Ramsey, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council. “It complicates Bogotá’s strategy of trying to advance a democratic solution to the crisis in Venezuela while maintaining diplomatic relations” with the government of President Nicolás Maduro.
In a statement on Monday night, Colombia’s Foreign Affairs Ministry said that the opposition leader had been taken to Bogota’s airport, where he was expected to leave the country for the US on a commercial flight.
Guaidó, an enemy of Maduro, wasn’t invited to Petro’s summit, according to Colombia’s Foreign Affairs Minister Alvaro Leyva, and Petro didn’t publicly welcome him to the country.
On state TV on Monday, Maduro described Guaidó’s visit to Bogotá as “intemperate, untimely, abrupt, abusive and imbecilic”.
Political Prisoners
In a meeting on Saturday, Petro told members of Venezuela’s opposition that he hoped his summit could secure the release of political prisoners and set possible dates for presidential elections next year, the people said.
Maduro’s government wants an easing of US sanctions in exchange, including the US Treasury allowing some foreign oil companies that still have a presence in Venezuela to resume oil production there.
“We won’t accept anything less from that conference in Bogotá than the lifting of all sanctions”, Maduro said Monday.
Petro, who also maintains cordial relations with US President Joe Biden, has become an unofficial conduit between Caracas and Washington.
Guaidó’s decision to leave Venezuela means he may abandon his bid to participate in the opposition’s primaries later this year, likely throwing his support behind another candidate.
Since taking office last year, Petro has become a key ally of Maduro’s, meeting with him four times and reestablishing diplomatic ties between the two countries.
Although Petro has pledged to guarantee asylum to Venezuelans, Guaidó was nervous about the risk of being extradited, people with direct knowledge of the matter told Bloomberg News earlier on Monday.
A spokesperson for Guaidó, and the US Department of State, declined to comment.
Guaidó was banned from leaving the country by Venezuela’s Supreme Court in 2019, shortly after he was recognized as the nation’s legitimate ruler by the US and dozens of its allies.
While he has flouted the ban several times in the past, it’s the first time he’s left the country since he voted out as the head of the opposition’s national assembly this year.
“Guaidó no longer has the massive support he received in 2019 and I think he is looking for opportunities to have impact in the international community,” Ramsey said.
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