CARACAS: Colombia forced top Venezuelan opposition figure Juan Guaido to leave its borders on Monday, hours after he arrived in Bogota for a conference on his crisis-torn country, an opposition source told AFP.
“It forced him,” the source said, speaking on condition of anonymity, adding Guaido was “going to the United States on a commercial flight,” without providing further detail.
The Colombian foreign ministry has not confirmed the move, though foreign minister Alvaro Leyva earlier said Guaido’s visit could face obstacles because “he entered (the country) in an inappropriate way, and in Colombia, we respect the law”.
The opposition source confirmed that Guaido did not go through immigration when he arrived in Colombia.
Guaido announced his arrival earlier Monday, ahead of a conference organized by Colombian President Gustavo Petro aimed at restarting talks to end Venezuela’s protracted political impasse.
Neither Guaido nor Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro had been officially invited to the conference.
“I have just arrived in Colombia, in the same way as millions of Venezuelans before me — on foot,” Guaido said in a statement.
Guaido, recognized in 2019 by more than 50 countries as Venezuela’s de facto leader, has rejected calls by Colombia’s Petro for sanctions against Venezuela to be lifted.
Venezuela’s opposition voted to disband its symbolic “interim government” in January and replaced Guaido as the head of a parallel congress made up of opposition lawmakers.
The divided opposition has set October 22 as the date for primaries that will select a candidate to face Maduro in the elections next year.
“It forced him,” the source said, speaking on condition of anonymity, adding Guaido was “going to the United States on a commercial flight,” without providing further detail.
The Colombian foreign ministry has not confirmed the move, though foreign minister Alvaro Leyva earlier said Guaido’s visit could face obstacles because “he entered (the country) in an inappropriate way, and in Colombia, we respect the law”.
The opposition source confirmed that Guaido did not go through immigration when he arrived in Colombia.
Guaido announced his arrival earlier Monday, ahead of a conference organized by Colombian President Gustavo Petro aimed at restarting talks to end Venezuela’s protracted political impasse.
Neither Guaido nor Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro had been officially invited to the conference.
“I have just arrived in Colombia, in the same way as millions of Venezuelans before me — on foot,” Guaido said in a statement.
Guaido, recognized in 2019 by more than 50 countries as Venezuela’s de facto leader, has rejected calls by Colombia’s Petro for sanctions against Venezuela to be lifted.
Venezuela’s opposition voted to disband its symbolic “interim government” in January and replaced Guaido as the head of a parallel congress made up of opposition lawmakers.
The divided opposition has set October 22 as the date for primaries that will select a candidate to face Maduro in the elections next year.