President of Colombia Gustavo Petro said that he would not attend the inauguration ceremony of Nicholas Maduro in Venezuela, which is planned for January 10.
According to local media, Petro explained by his decision by the fact that the presidential election in Venezuela on July 28, 2024 was held in a non -free atmosphere.
“The latest elections in Venezuela were not free. There can be no free elections in the conditions of the blockade. We cannot recognize the elections that are not free. We hope for holding elections without blockade,” wrote President of Colombia on the social network X.
He noted that Colombia shares with Venezuela a land border with a length of 2219 kilometers.
“Colombia will not break the diplomatic relations with Venezuela and will not intervene in the internal affairs of this country if it is not invited to do this,” Petro said.
At the same time, the President of Colombia demanded that the human rights are compliance with all Venezuela citizens.
Petro also condemned the detention of the opposition policy Enrique Marquez in Venezuela.
It is noted that Columbia at the Maduro inauguration ceremony will be represented by Ambassador to Karakas Milton Rengif.
According to the results announced by the National Electoral Council on July 29, 2024, Nicholas Maduro won the presidential election in Venezuela for the third time, gaining 51.20 percent of the vote.
His main rival, candidate from the opposition coalition Gonzalez and opposition leader Maria Korina Machado rejected the election results.
many countries, including the USA, Italy and Argentina, recognized Gonzalez as the chosen president of Venezuela.