In the morning of January 12 of this year President Gustavo Petra supplemented his thesis that the blockade imposed by the United States against the Venezuelan regime prevented the development of free elections in the neighboring country acknowledging that Chavismo took away Maria Karina Machado’s “right to choose and be chosen”leader of the opposition, asst another factor that influenced the election on July 28 last year.
“We will maintain diplomatic relations not because we are legitimizing elections that were not free to begin with, when the agreement to lift economic sanctions was broken so that people could vote freely, Then followed the response of the Venezuelan government, which deprived Maria Karina of the right to vote and be elected. That is why there were no free elections in Venezuela and there should not be“, – said the President of Colombia.
This is the first time that the head of state directly refers to Machado’s disqualification as one of the reasons that prevented the conduct of transparent elections in a neighboring country, and that the regime used them to illegitimately extend its mandate until 2031.
The government, however, through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Minister Luis Gilberto Murillo, has insisted on maintaining guarantees for the opposition and all political figures and has recently condemned the regime’s human rights abuses.
nevertheless When Colombia sent its ambassador to Maduro’s territory, it became one of the few validators in the region and in the world of the current occupant of the Miraflores Palace, who has consolidated his dictatorship.
President Peter’s message
The reference to Maria Karina Machado’s case was made by President Petro in a long post on his X account. In the text, the president begins by countering – as he did the day before – to the proposal of former President Álvaro Uribe Vélez to carry out “an international military intervention with the Venezuelan army to overthrow the dictatorship”.
“After reinforcing the fact that Colombians are killing each other, that the state is killing young Colombians, torturing and imprisoning them, they come to ask that young Colombians and Venezuelans kill each other, that Venezuelan and Colombian mothers cry for their dead children,” — said the representative of the head of state.
In this sense, the President added that “in a diverse humanity, as Europe taught after the Second World War, humanity will find peace only in the coexistence of different cultures and governments. “Maybe we don’t like power, it is always temporary, but we must always love unity and peace between people.”
The president later said that his administration is committed to “democratic dialogue in Colombia and Venezuela. We are committed to respect for the people.” Likewise, he argued that “We condemn the violation of their fundamental rights whether in Colombia or Venezuela or anywhere in the world.“.
And concluded: “Diplomatic relations – so that people unite and do not suffer from the differences of their governments. “Humanity must live together in peace if it is to survive on the planet.”
JUAN PABLO PENAGAS RAMIREZ
Political writing