US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Saturday wrapped up a three-day tour of Venezuela’s neighbors designed to heap pressure on President Nicolas Maduro, saying his malign influence in the region “cannot be tolerated.”
By Yahoo News – Shaun Tandon – AFP
Sep 19, 2020
Pompeo held talks in Bogota with Colombia’s right-wing President Ivan Duque, calling the US ally “a true leader for the region” and lauding his stance against Maduro.
Duque’s support “of Interim President Juan Guaido” and “a sovereign Venezuela free of the malign influences of Cuba and Russia and Iran is incredibly valuable,” the US official said.
Flanked by Pompeo after their talks at Bogota’s Casa de Narino presidential palace, Duque called on the international community to prosecute Maduro following a UN report that said the Venezuelan leader and his inner circle were responsible for probable crimes against humanity.
– Prosecute Maduro –
Duque said it showed “that this is a regime behind violations of human rights that are systematic, and that the head of this dictatorship is a criminal against humanity and the international community must put an end to the situation.”
Caracas has dismissed the 411-page UN Human Rights Council report as “riddled with falsehoods.”
The Colombian president spoke in Spanish, but the official English translation of his comments referred to Maduro as a “war criminal.”
…
Read More: Yahoo News – Pompeo bolsters South American alliance against Maduro
…