First modification:
Juan Guaidó was expelled from Colombia by the government of Gustavo Petro. This was denounced by the Venezuelan political leader himself, considered until last January as interim president of his country, with a video recorded from a commercial airline plane that took him from Bogotá to Miami on Monday night.
“After 60 hours to get to Bogotá, skipping the persecution of the dictatorship, challenging the Maduro regime, they are taking me out of Colombia. The persecution of the dictatorship unfortunately spread to Colombia,” said Juan Guaidó in the first part of his video, recorded from a plane bound for the United States.
direct threats
In the audiovisual he made it clear that he will remain in exile and will not return to Venezuela. Guaidó confirmed that his family, his daughters and the family of his wife, Fabiana Rosales, received direct threats from the government of Nicolás Maduro in Caracas, where they remain, and that is why he decided to cross the border. “That’s why I’m going on a commercial flight to the United States, because of the threats to my family, to my daughters, in this case and that Fabiana’s family received directly.”
Shortly before, Migration Colombia had issued a statement stating that its officials had taken Guaidó to the El Dorado airport in Bogotá to “verify his departure” on a commercial flight, with a ticket purchased by the Venezuelan politician. “Colombian Migration is attentive to the fact that this trip occurs without any delay,” he explained.
Due to the direct threats to my family and daughters of the Maduro regime, which have spread to Colombia, I am taking this flight. Until we achieve free elections in Venezuela, we will continue to fight. I will give you more details tomorrow. pic.twitter.com/atam1f4n6E
— Juan Guaidó (@jguaido) April 25, 2023
Immediately, from the environment of Juan Guaidó it was reported that such information was false, since the leader had not bought a ticket since in his agenda it was planned to participate in a public demonstration in the center of the Colombian capital together with Venezuelan migrants and refugees, “so that the delegations attending the conference on Venezuela called by Petro hear our voice.”
Minutes later, his Popular Will party, which is led by Leopoldo López, also an exile, issued a statement calling Guaidó’s departure from Colombian territory “expulsion.” The organization added that the politician already had scheduled meetings with those attending the conference called by Petro and that Guaidó was supposedly taken to the airport under threat of deportation to Venezuela.
deportation risk
The events that took place at the stroke of midnight on Monday, Colombian local time, were the outcome of a tense day that began with Guaidó’s confirmation that he was in Colombia. During the day, Colombian Foreign Minister Álvaro Leyva said that the leader did not have an invitation to Petro’s conference on Venezuela and that he entered that country irregularly, for which reason he ran the risk of being deported.
A message that Guaidó responded in his video by stating that “it was Foreign Minister Leyva who invited the opposition to listen – referring to a public statement made several days ago – and I came precisely to bring the voice of millions who want a better country, who want to recover their family, who want to definitively recover their dignity”. The Petro Foreign Ministry had already issued an unusual statement at noon on Monday clarifying that “Mr. Guaidó” was not invited.
“We hope that the institutions respond, that at that summit tomorrow (Tuesday) the countries can talk about democracy, respect for human rights, respect for the integrity of those who are being persecuted, not only in Venezuela, but throughout the world,” said Guaidó about the meeting that will bring together delegations from 20 countries.
The expulsion of Guaidó is part of the context in which that conference will begin this Tuesday at 11:00 am local time in Bogotá. In the same way, with Maduro from Caracas, affirming that he would only negotiate democratic conditions with the Venezuelan opposition again if all the sanctions that weigh on his government are eliminated, and also suspending the investigations in the International Criminal Court on alleged crimes against humanity committed during his tenure.