Days after rejecting possible US military intervention in Venezuela, Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos on Thursday called on the international community to increase pressure on the neighboring country.
In an opinion piece in Spanish newspaper El Pais, Santos took the lead by condemning the administration of President Nicolas Maduro in the harshest terms yet.
According to the Colombian head of state, the increasingly authoritarian government in Venezuela has “destroyed” both the economy and the country’s democracy.
Together with the economy, democracy has also been destroyed.
President Juan Manuel Santos
Additionally, Santos accused the neighbors’ government of ignoring Venezuelans’ human rights weeks after the Maduro administration had effectively sidelined the country’s opposition-controlled National Assembly.
Corruption has become the leading voice of the regime and human rights ceased to exist.
President Juan Manuel Santos
The Nobel Peace Prize laureate wrote he was considering breaking diplomatic relations with Venezuela and called on other nations “that defend the values of peace and liberty” to increase pressure on Colombia’s neighbor to the east.
The countries of the region and of the international community that defend the values of peace and liberty must continue to pressure, with increasing force and with effective actions, for the rapid, and hopefully peaceful restoration of democracy in that great nation.
President Juan Manuel Santos
The ongoing political and economic crisis in Venezuela is increasingly spilling over to Colombia where, according to official estimates, more than 200,000 Venezuelans have sought refuge since January.
Another half a million Venezuelans from the border region are estimated to depend on Colombian commerce and healthcare as food and healthcare in the neighboring country have become scarce.
More than 150K Venezuelans staying in Colombia illegally: govt
Colombia has refused to recognize the outcome of the recent Constituent Assembly election in Venezuela and seems to be heading towards a complete rupture of diplomatic relations.
Tensions between Santos and Maduro have been building for years in spite of Santos’ initial efforts to gently pressure his Venezuelan counterpart to engage in dialogue with that country’s opposition.
Since anti-government protests broke out in march this year, more than 100 people have been killed while Venezuelans have sought refuge in multiple countries in Latin America.
