Opposition Leader Says He Left Venezuela After Being Threatened

Venezuela’s most distinguished opposition chief, Juan Guaidó, mentioned 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.

Speaking in a video posted on Twitter, Mr. Guaidó mentioned he had entered Colombia with plans to fulfill with political representatives who had gathered to debate the way forward for Venezuela. But fairly than welcome him, he mentioned, the Colombians kicked him out.

“The persecution of the dictatorship has extended, unfortunately, to Colombia today,” he mentioned, talking from what gave the impression to be an airplane. He mentioned he was on his approach to the United States.

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 commercial airline to the United States.”

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. At 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 United States. But Mr. Guaidó in the end did not oust Mr. Maduro, and late final yr, 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 have the ability to create political change, and {that a} new path was wanted.

Mr. Maduro has jailed lots of of political opponents through the years, and many have already fled for different nations, together with Colombia. But 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 fashionable at dwelling and overseas.

Venezuela and Colombia share an extended border and plenty of cultural and financial ties, however their relationship grew to become significantly strained below the earlier Colombian authorities, led by President Iván Duque, a conservative.

Mr. Petro, Colombia’s new, leftist president, has restored the nations’ diplomatic relations, which have been lower off in 2019, and has had a number of conferences with Mr. Maduro. Mr. Petro has tried to place himself as a dealer between the Maduro authorities; the big, typically fractured Venezuelan opposition, of which Mr. Guaidó is only one participant; and the remainder of the world.

He met final week in Washington with President Biden, and the 2 leaders issued a joint assertion condemning “all forms of authoritarianism and aggression in the world” and expressing curiosity in a “solution to the situation in Venezuela.”

On Tuesday, Mr. Petro is scheduled to host a gathering with representatives of roughly 20 nations to debate Venezuela’s future. Two officers from the National Security Council in Washington, Jon Finer and Juan Gonzalez, are anticipated to attend, together with former Senator Chris Dodd.

On Monday, Colombia’s overseas minister, Álvaro Leyva, issued a discover clarifying that Mr. Guaidó had not been not invited to the assembly.