Petro to Skip Maduro Inauguration Over Venezuela Political Prisoners
(Bloomberg) -- Colombia’s leader said he will skip Nicolás Maduro’s presidential inauguration this week due to rising repression and the arrests of Venezuelan political leaders.
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The detentions by Venezuelan authorities of opposition official Enrique Márquez and human rights activist Carlos Correa prevent his “personal attendance” at the event in Caracas, Colombian President Gustavo Petro said Wednesday in a post on X. Maduro will be sworn in for a third six-year term on Jan. 10.
Petro expressed concerns over the transparency of the 2024 Venezuelan presidential elections but said that Colombia would not cut diplomatic ties with Maduro’s government.
Tensions are escalating in Venezuela as the government launched a new wave of repression in the past week and the opposition plans nationwide protests to denounce Maduro’s inauguration. The elections were widely regarded as fraudulent, and even allies of Maduro questioned his government’s refusal to publish voting tallies to confirm the result.
Maduro’s opponent Edmundo González has said he’ll return to the country for Jan. 10, where he intends to be inaugurated himself, despite government threats of arrest upon his arrival.
Petro has called for new presidential elections in Venezuela, arguing that voters didn’t have freedom amid US economic sanctions and internal political unrest. He urged the Venezuelan regime to release political prisoners.
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