Opposition Leader Says He Left Venezuela After Being Threatened

Venezuela’s most outstanding opposition chief, Juan Guaidó, stated late Monday that he had been pressured out of Colombia, hours after crossing the border into the nation after receiving threats from the Venezuelan authorities.

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

“The persecution of the dictatorship has prolonged, sadly, to Colombia as we speak,” he stated, talking from what gave the impression to be an airplane. He stated he was on his method to america.

Late Monday, Colombia’s overseas ministry issued an announcement 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 business airline to america.”

A consultant from the federal government of Colombia’s president, Gustavo Petro, didn’t reply to a request for extra data.

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. On the time, he posed probably the most important menace 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 america. However Mr. Guaidó finally didn’t oust Mr. Maduro, and late final yr, his personal colleagues within the opposition voted to dissolve his interim government and take away his title as interim president. Their evaluation was that the parallel-government technique wouldn’t be capable to create political change, and {that a} new path was wanted.

Mr. Maduro has jailed tons of of political opponents through the years, and many have already fled for different international locations, together with Colombia. However Mr. Guaidó remained in Caracas along with his household, underneath the idea that arresting such a outstanding chief would make Mr. Maduro even much less well-liked at residence and overseas.