Duque proposes temporary protection status for Venezuelans in Colombia.
The elect president of Colombia, Iván Duque, devised the plan with which his government will face the crisis generated by the mass exodus of Venezuelans in different Colombian cities.
In an interview with CNN’s “Choque de Opiniones” program, Duque said he will seek a temporary protection status that offers certain benefits to the thousands of Venezuelans who have left their country. In this regard, he announced that he will take this proposal to other countries in Latin America.
“We will seek a temporary protection status with several countries in Latin America so that this migratory flow has temporary opportunities and gives relief and oxygen to many people who are looking for opportunities,” he told reporter Juan Carlos López in an interview.
The elected Colombian president, who will arrive next August 7 at the Casa de Nariño after being elected with more than 10.3 million votes, had already said during the presidential campaign that he would promote permits for temporary work and homologation of titles for Venezuelans in Colombia .
Venezuelans who legally entered Colombia before February 2 had until June 7 to apply for the Special Permit of Permanence (PEP), which allows them to work, study, access the health system and develop any type of legal activity within of the Colombian territory.
However, thousands of Venezuelans remain in Colombia with an irregular situation.
Massive output of Unasur
Duque, the political heir of former President Álvaro Uribe, also expanded his campaign proposal to withdraw Colombia from Unasur and said he will seek a massive withdrawal from other countries of the international organization made up of Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, Uruguay and Venezuela.
“When Colombia withdraws from Unasur, and if other countries do so to strengthen the inter-American system, what reaffirms is the regional pressure to put an end to that dictatorship and free elections,” he said.
According to Duque, the international organization has been a “promoter” and “accomplice” of the dictatorship in Venezuela for its “silence.”
UNASUR was created in 2008 in an attempt to strengthen the integration of South America. One of its main promoters was former Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez.
“The end of the dictatorship is the path to free elections and the return of Venezuelans […]
And for it to come to an end we need many more diplomatic international efforts to corner it. We will be ready to support them, “he added.
