The Diplomat in Spain

Iván Duque and Vargas Llosa./ Photo: NEF

Eduardo González. 10/07/2018

Colombia’s president-elect, Iván Duque, urged Spain yesterday to join forces with his country to “isolate the dictatorship” of Nicolás Maduro and confirmed that his country will no longer be part of the Union of South American Nations (Unasur in its Spanish acronym) to stop being a “useless idiot” for Venezuela.

“Ties between Spain and Colombia must help to, united, face the enemies of progress and dictatorships like that of Venezuela”, Duque declared during his participation in the Europe Forum, organized yesterday in Madrid by New Economy Forum. The president-elect has included Spain as the second destination of its current international tour, in which it has been received by the King and the president of the Government, Pedro Sánchez.

“Together we can isolate that regime and help to return to democracy and investments”, Duque declared before those present, among them the Venezuelan member of parliament of the opposition Lester Javier Toledo Soto and the father of the political prisoner Leopoldo López.

Along that same line, Duque announced that he will support the creation of a fund of humanitarian assistance at the border, so that “not only Colombia assumes the migratory flow” of Venezuelans and there is “a shared regional effort”, and he committed to “take the country out of Unasur, an institution that has served as a figurehead, a soundbox and a useful idiot to protect Venezuela’s dictatorship”.

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The president-elect affirms that “Spain’s arguments” on the Galleon San José are being analyzed

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Furthermore, Duque committed to continue to work in order“to solve disputes and cut down controversy” with Spain and affirmed, in that sense, that the current team of transition is “analyzing the arguments presented by Spain and exploring in detail all the international normative” in order to find a solution to the contentious on the Galleon San José.

Iván Duque did not confirm or deny whether his next Foreign Minister will be Carlos Holmes Trujillo (who is accompanying him in the tour and attended the informative breakfast yesterday) and he did not pronounce on who the future ambassador to Colombia will be. The current minister, Alberto Furmanski, also attended the event. Sources of the Embassy pointed out to The Diplomat that, before August (when Duque will officially assume the Presidency), there will be no news in relation to this matter.

During the presentation of the event, the Spanish-Peruvian writer Mario Vargas Llosa described as “slander” the fact that Duque is accused of being part of the extreme right. “He is completely the opposite of what that expression represents, he is a defender of freedom and democracy, and he is against all dictatorships, such as those of Venezuela or Nicaragua”, he pointed out.