Pedro promises not to hand over opponents after Diostoto Capello’s statement

This Monday night, despite fears in some quarters that Colombia would become a replica of Hugo Chávez and Nicolás Maduro’s Venezuela, President Gustavo Pedro, elected in June, sent a message that this would not be the case. In the process of restoring diplomatic and consular relations, when There is great anticipation for the commercial reopening Among businessmen from both countries, he publicly responded to Chavismo, one of the strongest men in former vice president and current vice president Diosto Cabello.

The Venezuelan government has made requests in the past Ex-deputy Julio Borges extraditedThat’s a request Announced from Its Supreme Court of Justice but the Duke’s government refused. That demand, and other political backdrops, led to the breakdown of diplomatic ties during Duke’s four-year tenure. of former Venezuelan prosecutor Luisa Ortega, is not implemented. With Pedro’s election, they were revived: a few days earlier the president of the Chavismo-controlled Venezuelan parliament, Jorge Rodríguez, made a heated speech in which he formally asked Colombia’s new government to hand over Primero’s founder Borges. Justicia Party and an important opposition leader.

As explained Bloomberg Last July, Venezuelans began fleeing Colombia, fearing a loss of safety, although at the end of June the current president told EL PAÍS That they will not be surrendered by their government. “There are a lot of people who are concerned. But it’s not for everyone. I know of some politicians and journalists who decided to stay in Colombia anyway. It is definitely a concern that is being discussed,” said a Bogota-based journalist who wished to remain anonymous.

This is why today’s Dillumullu is being welcomed by various voices. For example, Eduardo Battistini, who served as Colombia’s representative in the Venezuelan legislature, overruled Maduro in 2019 and declared Juan Guaido the legitimate president of Venezuela.

Venezuelan opposition politician David Smolanski, today’s commissioner of the OAS Secretariat for Venezuela’s migrant crisis, said something similar on Tuesday. “It is important that President Gustavo Pedro said last night in his networks that the right to asylum and refuge in Colombia is guaranteed. This is not a small matter. In this office, in its first statement to the General Assembly of Medellin in 2019 and in 14 other statements, we have always said that Venezuela should be recognized as a refugee,” he said at a forum on immigrants in Darien. Similarly, Zair Mundarain, legal counsel for the same delegation, said, “It’s such a message because, albeit short, it reflects the prevailing institutional will.”

Txomin Las Heras, co-researcher at the Universidad del Rosario’s Venezuela Lab and president of the Colombo-Venezuela Civil Dialogue Association, recalled that this was Pedro’s first statement after becoming president, and this was his second. Break for new President Maduro. “When General Padrino Lopez said Had orders from Maduro In the sense of immediate re-establishment of military relations, replied By saying it is a process, it implies that there are many priorities in re-establishing relations such as border or trade. This makes me understand that the Pedro government does not allow itself to be manipulated by Maduro.”

Along these lines, Petro’s response to deporting opposition leaders is another indication that the thaw is a gradual process. Despite the sentiment subscribed to the reopening of the border, it has already happened that it is necessary to achieve it. Continued path, especially from the Venezuelan side. There are other sanctions, such as the extradition of the condemned senator to Colombia. Ida Merlano, Administration of the ELN Binational GuerrillaVenezuelan state company Monomeros (Capital for the Colombian Economy) or handling the Venezuelan exodus.

Beyond being welcome, Pedro’s dithering is an announcement that raises questions about the deportation of Venezuelans demanded by the Maduro government. On the one hand, the Maduro government has not made formal requests for extradition, so the new Ministry of Foreign Affairs does not handle specific cases. This is relevant because according to relevant international agreements (especially the Convention on the Status of Refugees Since 1951 and Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees 1967), the right to asylum is granted when they have “well-founded fears” that they will be persecuted in their country “for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion”. Additionally, it excludes people who have “committed a serious common crime”. Therefore, in specific cases, there may be a debate about whether or not the fears are well-founded, giving Colombia an edge in denying asylum and deportation in a particular case.

On the other hand, not all Venezuelans who have criticized Maduro recognize refugee status, which is not automatic. To be recognized as a refugee in Colombia, Venezuela is necessary Make a request to the Ministry of External Affairs And complete the easy action. This can be seen in the figures: compared 2.4 million Venezuelan immigrants Las Heras recalled that until recently there were only 41,000 refugee applicants, those under the Temporary Protection Act, which allows them to live and work in Colombia. Others may not be protected if the Petro Notice strictly applies.

“We have to give Pedro a waiting period,” says Enrique Figueredo, lawyer, ambassador and director of information portal Analytica. “He has said he is not going to harm Venezuelan immigration in Colombia. I also don’t think he will take a hostile position on the charges against Maduro. Pedro knows he has a complicated international picture ahead of him and he will be prudent.

“I believe changes will come with Pedro,” observes internationalist and academic Giovanna Di Michele instead. “They won’t be immediately, but there will be pressure from the most radical groups of the Colombian left to change the face of the Venezuelan exiles, I have no doubt. If I were part of the Venezuelan exiles in Colombia, I would have already left.”

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