Colombian president calls for free and fair elections in Venezuela
Colombian President Iván Duque called on free and fair elections in Venezuela to address the “millions of Venezuelans fleeing the narco dictatorship.
He outlined the steps his government has undertaken to address the issue.
The work with the United Nations and the office of Dr Filippo Grandi, High Commissioner for Refugees, has shown great progress, such as providing temporary protection status to more than one million two hundred thousand Venezuelan migrants living in our country.”
Duque said his government’s goal is to naturalize the 1.8 million Venezuelan migrants living in Colombia.
We have taken that challenge not being a rich country and at an enormous fiscal cost, said Duque.
The situation requires that through the donor conferences that have been established.
We now need to see the disbursements of the commitments of the international community, and I urge you to do that, Duque asked.
With the temporary protection status, Venezuelans can legally work in Colombia and earn the same amount as a Colombian citizen would, according to a government statement from August.
Duque also addressed the talks between the government of Nicolás Maduro and Venezuelan opposition taking place in Mexico City, said “those talks would give some hope.
But the only effective solution to “the worst migration crisis affecting the planet” is holding a free and transparent presidential election that involved international observation as soon as possible.
The divides existing between nations with regard to the process of vaccination are unprecedented.
While some nations are acquiring additional doses for six or seven times the size of their population and are also announcing third booster shots, others have not even been able to inject one single dose of hope in their population,” he said.
The equitable distribution of the Covid-19 “is our moral duty, adding that Colombia is making progress in the national vaccination plan "to cover as the minimum 70% of our citizens.