Former president of Colombia, Iván Duque, posing in front of the International Criminal Court headquarters. File photo.
The Foreign Affairs Minister of Colombia Álvaro Leyva stated that Colombia will seek to withdraw the lawsuit filed before the International Criminal Court (ICC) during former President Iván Duque’s time, against the president of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro,.
In conversation with Colombian radio station W Radio on Friday, September 9, Leyva stated that he is in favor of withdrawing that complaint in order to reestablish relations with Venezuela and achieve total peace between the two nations.
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“In normalization, it is necessary to review an initiative that was taken by other governments, at other times and from other perspectives in such a way that it would not surprise me if, at the time, with the necessary clarity on many aspects that are being solved, comes the need to withdraw it,” Leyva remarked.
For the Colombian foreign minister, what was done against Venezuela “was outrageous,” taking into account that “in all the countries of the world in conflict, the existence of a State has never been denied,” while there was no communication whatsoever between Colombia and Venezuela.
It should be remembered that Venezuela broke off relations with Colombia due to Iván Duque’s active participation in the failed US-led “regime change” operation against Chavismo and President Nicolás Maduro.
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However, after Gustavo Petro became the president of Colombia in August, efforts have started on both sides to restore relations. The rapprochement began with the appointment of the respective ambassadors for both nations, as well as agreeing on the border reopening scheduled for September 26.
Now, with his statements, Leyva has confirmed the words of the Colombian ambassador to Venezuela, Armando Benedetti, who commented some days ago that the Petro government intends to withdraw the lawsuit against the Venezuelan president.
“I think so, what Duque did was a mistake in foreign relations,” the ambassador told an international media outlet when asked about the issue a couple of weeks ago.
(Últimas Noticias) by Ariadna Eljuri
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
OT/JRE/SF
