Colombia extends Armando Benedetti’s stay as ambassador to Venezuela until July 19

() The Colombian Foreign Ministry published a decree that extends Armando Benedetti’s stay as ambassador to Venezuela until July 19, 2023.

The official presented his resignation from the position on June 6, and this was accepted as of June 23. However, according to the decree dated June 20, Benedetti “stated that it is not possible for him to effectively deliver the position within the initially scheduled period, due to the multiplicity of pending issues that include administrative, budgetary, organizational issues and implementation related to the reopening of the embassy and all those related to a diplomatic post”.

The ambassador resigned days after a publication in Semana magazine about some audios attributed to him, in which he supposedly threatened to reveal details of the financing of the political campaign that brought President Gustavo Petro to power.

On this, the still official said that there is a campaign that tries to discredit him, with the aim of disqualifying him about the things he can say in the future.

Benedetti will have to testify, on a date yet to be defined, about these audios before the Attorney General’s Office, which is currently investigating whether or not illegal money entered Petro’s presidential campaign in 2022.

The president has denied any irregularity in his campaign, of which he assured that “not a single dirty peso entered.”