Iván Duque: “We are going to continue fighting until the last of our days so that Venezuela sees a return to democracy”

Duque exalts diplomatic siege and acknowledges “error” in forecasting Maduro 8:28 (CNN Spanish) — The president of Colombia, Iván Duque, who attends a Summit of the Americas marked by the absences of several leaders, defended the “fence diplomat” to Nicolás Maduro, questioned president of Venezuela. In an interview with Alejandra Oraa of CNN en Español, Duque emphasized the handling he has given to the Venezuelan exodus and reiterated his well-known campaign for what he calls the “fight for democracy” in Venezuela. Duque acknowledged that perhaps it was a “mistake” to have said that Maduro had “days left” at the time, but defended the “diplomatic siege.” He was referring to his statement on February 1, 2019, when at a meeting of Colombian governors he said that “the Venezuelan dictatorship has very few hours left because there is a new institutional regime thanks to the work that Colombia and other countries have done.” . Duque came to power in 2018 with a campaign in which he frequently mentioned Venezuela and since the beginning of his mandate he has promoted the so-called “diplomatic siege” against the Maduro government. “What was never a mistake and will never be a mistake is the diplomatic fence,” he told CNN in Los Angeles. “Because the reason why Nicolás Maduro today has more than 50 countries that do not recognize him and the reason why he is pressured to have to go to Mexico to sit at the table with the democratic resistance is precisely because there was a diplomatic siege and some denunciations of their behavior before the International Criminal Court and that will always be a source of pride for me,” he said. “We are going to continue fighting until the last of our days so that Venezuela sees a return to democracy,” he emphasized. Duque says that after leaving power on August 7 he will continue fighting for “democracy” in that country. Venezuelan migrants Duque called for more countries in the region to regularize Venezuelan migrants as Colombia did through the Special Protection Statute, a policy that in his opinion has proven to be a “win-win.” Migration is at the center of talks at the Summit of the Americas, which are challenged by the millions who arrive at the northern border of Mexico in an attempt to enter the United States and the migration crisis in Venezuela: until May 2022 , there were 5.08 million Venezuelan refugees and migrants in Latin America and the Caribbean. In this context, Duque, who is close to leaving power in Colombia, reported that one million Temporary Protection Status cards have already been delivered and in the next weeks there will be 800,000 more, which, in his words, “means that it has been the most fraternal migration policy this hemisphere has ever known.” “We cannot let millions of people be invisible in our countries without being able to open an account, without being able to work, without access to health services. And that is why we launched this policy. We are not a rich country, but we decided on a fraternal policy “, he explained. The president said that he suggested that “more countries in the hemisphere do the same”, and argued that it is also a “win-win” because it was shown that unemployment did not increase, the rate of labor informality was reduced, investment was increased and it was possible to provide “social sustainability to thousands of families that require it.” The elections in Colombia and his concern about populism During the interview, Duque also referred to the elections in Colombia, which will elect its next president on June 19 in the second round between Gustavo Petro and Rodolfo Hernández. “Here there is going to be a debate between two models, between a model that believes more in nationalization, nationalization and expropriation, and perhaps a model that believes more in economic freedoms, each with its own styles,” said Duque. He also argued that they should not be labeled as “outsiders” to the political establishment because they are candidates who have held public office. Duque, as he has recently assured in statements, affirmed that if he could aspire to re-election, he believes that he would go to the second round and win, although for that he takes his low approval rating results on the same plane as some voting intention polls. On the other hand, he said that his greatest concern is, as the writer Moisés Naím has explained, in the “P”. “I’m worried about the P of populism. I’m worried about the P of post-truth. I’m worried about the P of polarization, which are the three great threats to our democracy,” he said. And he continued: “Those three P’s that have done so much damage to democracy in the world have to be constantly defeated at the polls.”