Colombia expels Venezuelan opposition leader to Miami after he arrives for summit organized by Petro

The government of Colombia has expelled Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido after he arrived for a summit on Venezuela organized by Colombia’s Marxist president and Maduro ally Gustavo Petro. Guaido was put on a commercial flight to Miami on Monday night after arriving unexpectedly in Bogota. The Petro government said Guaido was not invited to the summit and called his travel to Colombia “inappropriate.”

Via El Pais (my translation):

Colombia forces Guaido to leave to Miami

The Colombian government sent Juan Guaido to Miami on Monday night. The venture of the Venezuelan opposition leader into Colombia only lasted a few hours. Guaido announced in the morning that he was arriving in Bogota to participate in the international summit on Venezuela organized by Gustavo Petro set to take place on Tuesday. Colombian member of parliament, Alvaro Leyva, said hours later that Guaido had not been invited and had entered the country in a manner that was “inappropriate.” Guaido left on an Avianca flight to the U.S.

Colombia’s Foreign Minster later explained that there was no aircraft available for Guaido’s exit, and since he had entered the country in an irregular manner, took him to the airport and confirmed he had boarded a commercial flight. “The airline ticket had already been purchased by him,” he said.

Right before taking off, the politician sent out a new message: “Because of direct threats against my family and daughters by the Maduro regime, which extended to Colombia, I am taking this flight. We will continue the struggle until there are free elections in Venezuela.”

The Colombian president did not want anything to disturb his summit on Tuesday, where more than 20 countries will try to reestablish a dialogue between Chavismo and the opposition, which has been paralyzed for months. Neither of the two sides will participate in the summit, but the government of Nicolas Maduro as well as the opposition delegation participating in the talks have expressed their support for the meeting. Guaido’s presence was a surprise and placed Petro in a position of diplomatic conflict with no easy way out. The only solution was to rid himself of this inconvenient guest as quickly as possible.

In a press release, Guaido announced that morning that he had left Venezuela by land without crossing through an official border post. “I just arrived in Colombia in the same way that millions of Venezuelans have done before me, on foot.” The intention of his trip was not clear, but he promised to hold a press conference when he arrived in Bogota.

That never happened. The Petro government worked diligently to ensure his presence did not overshadow the international conference.

Continue reading (in Spanish) HERE.