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Colombian President Escalates Condemnation Of Venezuelan Regime On Miami Visit

Matias J. Ocner
Colombian President Ivan Duque, left, speaks with Miami Herald columnist Andres Oppenheimer during the Americas Conference Series at the University of Miami Braman Miller Center on Friday, September 27, 2019.

Colombian president Iván Duque will speak Saturday morning at Florida International University’s Wertheim Theater.

The speech comes on the heels of Duque’s escalating condemnation of the Venezuelan regime.

At the U.N. General Assembly this week, the U.S. and Latin American countries denounced Venezuela for aiding criminal groups in Colombia.

There, Duque accused Venezuela’s authoritarian socialist regime of harboring Colombian guerrillas and drug-traffickers – a charge Venezuela denies.

But in a public talk Friday with the Miami Herald’s Andres Oppenheimer at the University of Miami, Duque didn’t hold back, comparing Venezuela’s actions to support for Middle East terrorism.

“It’s comparable to the protection the Taliban regime in Afghanistan once gave to Osama bin-Laden and Al Qaeda,” Duque said.

Duque called on the international community to keep applying pressure to force the Venezuelan regime out of power.

He also urged support for those trying to escape Venezuela, most of whom have landed in neighboring Colombia.

Millions of Venezuelans have fled their country’s economic collapse and human rights abuses.

“We have to show those refugees solidarity and brotherhood,” Duque said.

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