Venezuelan lawyer Maria Alejandra Diaz issuing a statement to the press in 2024; she is escorted by Venezuelan Communist Party members, including the secretary general, Oscar Figuera. Photo: Ronald Peña R./EFE/file photo.
Caracas (OrinocoTribune.com)âEx-Chavista lawyer MarĂa Alejandra DĂaz confirmed Sunday, August 17, that she is in Colombia after reporting earlier this month that NicolĂĄs Maduro’s administration denied her safe passage to “leave under diplomatic protection.”
In a social media post, DĂaz explained that she exited the Colombian Embassy residence in Caracas after Colombia granted her political asylum, as confirmed by Colombia’s foreign ministry on August 6.
The lawyer thanked Gustavo Petro’s government, Foreign Minister Yolanda Villavicencio, Ambassador Milton Rengifo, and “dozens of unsung heroes,” without clarifying if Venezuela granted her safe passage.
COMUNICADO
Por esta vĂa informo oficialmente que gracias a las gestiones del gobierno del presidente .@petrogustavo de la Canciller .@ryvillavicencio, asĂ como del embajador Milton Rengifo y a la colaboraciĂłn de decenas de hĂ©roes anĂłnimos, que logramos salir de la Residencia del⊠pic.twitter.com/Cu5dHJ0558— MarĂa Alejandra DĂaz MarĂnđđŠđŠđđ (@MariaesPueblo) August 18, 2025
“We exited the Colombian ambassador’s Caracas residence and are safely in Colombian territory with family,” she said.
Colombia granted asylum to MarĂa Alejandra DĂaz
Colombia confirmed DĂaz’s diplomatic asylum August 6. “On January 11, 2025, Colombia granted diplomatic asylum to Venezuelan citizen MarĂa Alejandra DĂaz MarĂn, who claimed politically motivated persecution by Venezuela,” the Colombian Foreign Ministry stated after DĂaz reported receiving asylum at Colombia’s Caracas embassy since January.
Colombia’s ministry added: “Venezuela has stated through diplomatic channels that no safe-conduct pass is necessary for Ms. DĂaz MarĂn, as no arrest warrant or judicial process exists against her.”
Colombian President Gustavo Petro confirmed Monday that DĂaz entered Colombia following January’s asylum grant: “Colombia guarantees political asylum. We await return of all Colombians detained in Venezuela.”
Who is MarĂa Alejandra DĂaz
In October 2024, the coalition of former Chavistas known as the Popular Democratic Front (FDP)âwhich DĂaz joined after distancing herself from the Chavista movementâfiled a Supreme Court appeal demanding disaggregated presidential election results. The court rejected it in November 2024.
The Popular Democratic Front (FDP), now defunct, included political organizations that claimed to be Chavistas such as the historical Venezuelan Communist Party (PCV) and Homeland for All (PPT), among others.
Previously, the PSUV and Maduro government granted DĂaz TV prominence through frequent appearances on news programs such as Mario Silva’s La Hojilla, among many others.
Venezuela’s Constitutional Court fined DĂazâwho supported the FDP requestâand ordered the Caracas Bar Association to begin “disciplinary proceedings” against her on November 2024. The court temporarily suspended her law license and requested administrative sanctions.
DĂaz served on the 2017 National Constituent Assembly (ANC) during far-right opposition protests (guarimbas) that caused over 100 deaths. She chaired its Human Rights Commission.
A former United Socialist Party (PSUV) member, she distanced herself from the Chavista movement in 2020 whenâas an ANC delegateâshe abstained from voting on the Anti-Blockade Law. Following its approval, she complained that ANC members lacked access to the bill before the vote: “No legislative emergency overrules the principle that sovereignty resides inalienably in the people.”
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“Abstaining resolves an ethical dilemmaânot following overwhelming majorities or crushed minorities but opposing underlying reasons for the vote,” she responded after ANC colleagues Francisco Torrealba and Gladys Requena criticized her.
For the 2024 presidential elections, the Communist Party (PCV) proposed DĂaz as a candidate. The initiative failed after PCV and Homeland for All (PPT) lost their electoral “ticket” through a judicial process transferring control of those parties to PSUV-aligned forces.
Special for Orinoco Tribune by staff
OT/JRE/SL
