Guaido not invited to international conference on Venezuela: Colombia

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
24 Apr 2023 22:46
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Colombia's Foreign Ministry says FM Alvaro Leyva Duran has not invited Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido to attend a conference on the political process in Venezuela.

Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido at a news conference in Caracas, Venezuela, January 10, 2019 (Reuters)

The Colombian Foreign Ministry on Monday pointed out that Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido was not invited to the International Conference on the political process in Venezuela.

"The Ministry of Foreign Relations informs that, in the International Conference on the political process in Venezuela that will be held tomorrow, April 25 in Bogota, only the countries invited to this dialogue will participate," the Ministry said in a statement.

"Foreign Minister Alvaro Leyva Duran has not invited Mr. Juan Guaido, for which reason his attendance at the Conference is not available," it confirmed.

Earlier, Guaido claimed that he crossed the border into Colombia "on foot" to seek a meeting with international delegations gathering there for a conference focused on his country’s political crisis.

Tuesday’s international conference organized by Colombian President Gustavo Petro is meant to jumpstart official dialogue between the government of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and the opposition.

The formal negotiations between both sides guided by Norwegian diplomats and hosted by Mexico stalled at the end of last year.

"I will be requesting meetings with members of the international delegations," Guaido said in the statement. He said he hoped the meeting would "ensure that the Maduro regime returns to the negotiating table in Mexico and agrees to a credible timetable for free and fair elections to solve the current situation."

After the 2018 presidential election that regenerated Nicolas Maduro as President, Guaido declared himself Venezuela’s alleged "interim president" in 2019. However, US-backed opposition lawmakers voted in January to strip him of that role and instead appoint a committee to run what they call their "interim government".

Guaido has continuously criticized Petro’s policies toward Maduro, including the planned conference, which will be attended by representatives of the US and at least 15 Latin American and European countries.

Petro and Maduro have said they will seek to end economic sanctions against Venezuela during the gathering in Colombia’s capital, Bogota.

When Guaido declared himself Venezuela’s "interim president" in 2019, he ran a parallel government and was backed by the US, which handed him control of Venezuelan assets frozen abroad through sanctions.

The gathering in Bogota gained momentum after US President Joe Biden and Petro met Thursday at the White House and discussed Venezuela’s challenges among other topics. The presidents issued a joint statement expressing a "shared commitment to support and contribute to the solution of the situation in Venezuela."

However, Petro told reporters that his proposal to the White House included developing an electoral schedule, with guarantees, and the gradual lifting of sanctions imposed by the US with the objective that "the people decide freely without sanctions, without pressure, his own destiny."