BOGOTA.- Former President Andrés Pastrana He emphasized this Monday, January 6, that in Venezuela there is a dictatorship. In statements to NTN 24, The former Colombian president said that that is why Edmundo González Urrutiapresident-elect of the Venezuelans, has said that he will take office this Friday, January 10.
“From the Group IDEA (Democratic Initiative of Spain and the Americas), who have been accompanying this fight in Venezuela for 10 years, we have told Edmundo that we are now 9 former presidents who are going to be with him, on January 9, to accompany him to take a plane to get to Venezuela,” he indicated.
Likewise, Pastrana points out that in the group of former presidents, in addition to him, there are Vicente Fox and Felipe Calderón from Mexico, Mireya Moscoso and Ernesto Pérez Valladares from Panama: He is also accompanied by former presidents Tuto Quiroga from Bolivia, Yamir Mahua from Ecuador; Laura Chinchilla from Costa Rica, and Mario Abdo Benítez from Paraguay.
“There is a very important group of former presidents that we love and wanted from the beginning to tell Edmundo: Here we are to accompany you to the return to freedom and with the conciliation of democracy in Venezuela and, above all, that the will of popular,” said Andrés Pastrana.
On January 9, Pastrana and other former presidents of the IDEA Group will participate in an event to support Edmundo González Urrutia in the Dominican Republic. According to the Colombian magazine Week, This event seeks to emphasize the regional commitment to democratic values and legitimate governance in Latin America in the midst of the political crisis in Venezuela.
The presidential spokesperson and director of Communication and Government Strategy of the Dominican Republic, Homero Figueroa, announced Edmundo González Urrutia on January 3, accompanied by a delegation of eight former presidents members of the IDEA Group and its general secretary. According to him, the central purpose of the visit “is to express firm support for democracy, human rights and institutions in Venezuela.”
I veto IDEA
On Sunday, January 5, the ratified president of the Chavista National Assembly, Jorge Rodrìguez, said that the former leaders of the IDEA Group will be considered “personas non grata”, so they will be classified as “invaders” if they enter Venezuela without the authorization of the regime.
After this, Andrés Pastrana responded this Monday: “If they don’t let us in, we’ll see each other at the exit.”