BOGOTA.- The Colombian president, Gustavo Petroinsisted this Wednesday on his proposal for a “national agreement” in Venezuela facing the presidential elections to be held on July 28which includes “maximum guarantees” for candidates and that the results are recognized.
This is what Petro expressed in his X account where he suggested that what he is proposing for Colombia It can also be used for Venezuela. “A national agreement that, in the Venezuelan case, seeks maximum guarantees for the opposition while respecting the upcoming election results”wrote.
According to Petro, the agreement must be “made by the high contracting parties: the government and the current opposition should, as we did in Colombia with the peace agreement, be raised as a unilateral declaration of State before the security commission for greater guarantee of all parties.”
The Colombian president has been insisting on a political agreement in Venezuela. Last April, it was revealed that Petro proposed the idea to his Brazilian counterpart Luis Ignacio “Lula” Da Silva, which was later taken to Maduro.
Colombian Foreign Minister Luis Gilberto Murillo said in an interview with Colombian radio that concrete proposals have been worked on jointly with other governments in the region.
Among these proposals was a plebiscite to be held in conjunction with the vote on July 28 to put the Venezuelan people to the test on the viability of a democratic pact to guarantee the security and rights of all participants in the elections. The Colombian foreign minister said that the talks have been at a diplomatic level. However, they have not been able to make progress in finalizing the proposal.
Both Petro and Lula have repeatedly expressed their desire for free and transparent elections in Venezuela.
“The normalization of Venezuelan political life means stability for all of South America. Therefore, we hope that the elections will take place calmly and that the results will be recognized by all,” Lula said Tuesday during an official visit to Bolivia on the occasion of the country’s formal incorporation into the Southern Common Market (Mercosur).
Lula also advocated for Venezuela to rejoin the regional bloc after the presidential elections. Caracas was excluded in 2017 after the heads of state that make up Mercosur considered that there had been a “rupture of the democratic order” in the Caribbean country. In 2017, Venezuela experienced a wave of citizen protests against the regime from March to August of that year. Various international organizations and NGOs denounced human rights violations.
Source: EDITORIAL / With information from Infobae