MEXICO CITY (AP) — HIT STYLE Two Venezuelan activists shot dead in Colombian capital Among the Venezuelan diaspora, suppression of dissent The influence of the Venezuelan government of President Nicolas Maduro permeates beyond South America’s borders.
On Monday afternoon, Venezuelan human rights activist Yendry Velázquez and political consultant Luis Peche Arteaga were shot dead by two unidentified men as they left a building in northern Bogotá and were waiting in a car.
About 15 shots were fired at activists fleeing the government’s escalating crackdown last year, and Peche Arteaga was shot six times, said Laura Dibb, Velazquez’s colleague and Venezuela program director at the Washington Office on Latin America. Both underwent surgery and are in stable condition.
“It’s tragedy after tragedy,” Dibb said. “Today was a really difficult day for the entire human rights movement in Venezuela. This sends a very clear message about the risks of cross-border repression.”
It was not immediately clear who was behind the shooting, and Colombian authorities said they were investigating the attack. Dib and other civil society leaders said they were awaiting the outcome of the investigation but said the attack appeared to be targeted based on political profile.
The two were among opposition and civil society leaders who fled Venezuela after Maduro took power. widely accused of stealing last year’s election And the government detained more than 2,000 people, including human rights activists and critics.
According to a report by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, Velasquez had already been arbitrarily detained for several hours by Venezuelan authorities as he attempted to leave the country to attend a human rights conference last August. Mr. Velazquez also said that the Venezuelan government had revoked his passport.
They are on the run, Approximately 8 million people flee crisis-hit Venezuela In recent years, many people have sought refuge in neighboring Colombia.
But civil society groups and diaspora leaders say those who once found refuge in other Andean countries are increasingly worried about their safety following the attacks.
Arul Pereda, president of the Venezuelan Colony in Colombia (ColVenz), said concerns had been simmering for years as the government targeted civil society groups. Due to the prevalence of organized crime in Colombia, it is not difficult to get a rental gun contract.
“We have always been alert to the possibility of persecution against us. We have known that such an attack was coming for some time, we knew it could happen at any time, and now it is happening in Bogota,” he said.
“I’m worried that we will all be targeted,” he added.
Civil society groups currently working with Pereda said they were exploring ways to strengthen security measures, including hiring bodyguards and finding third countries of refuge if they felt human rights defenders were in grave danger.
When dissident Venezuelan military officer Ronald Ojeda was kidnapped and murdered in Chile last year, it sent shockwaves through the diaspora. Chilean investigators said the killing was political in nature, orchestrated within Venezuela and likely carried out by a Venezuelan prison gang. Torren de Aragua.
James Storey, a former U.S. ambassador to the Venezuelan Affairs Force in the Biden and Trump administrations, said it was within the Maduro regime’s capabilities to carry out such an attack in Colombia, and that the government has long monitored hostile forces in its neighbor.
“All the rebels who lived in Bogotá were worried that they could be attacked by the Maduro regime, that they were under surveillance, or that some nefarious activity would occur,” Storey said.
He noted that while Torren de Aragua has dominated headlines and political debate in the United States, there are many different actors in the Maduro regime that could carry out such attacks.
These concerns were echoed by Venezuelan opposition leader María Colina Machado, who said in a post on social media platform
The attack comes as Venezuela is back in the spotlight. A few days before the attack, Machado won the Nobel Peace Prize It is decided by a committee selected by the Norwegian Parliament. On the same day as the shooting, Mr. Maduro announced that he was Venezuelan embassy in Oslo closed Almost without explanation.
Meanwhile, tensions are rising between the United States and President Maduro. fatal boat collision The Trump administration claims it was transporting drugs from Venezuela. President Trump announced on Tuesday: attack the 5th boat It was carried out on Tuesday, killing six people.
Velazquez’s colleague Dib noted that finding aid for Venezuelan exiles has become increasingly difficult in recent months. Trump administration cuts international aid funds and Protection of Venezuelans Within your own boundaries.
At the same time, Andean governments have become increasingly hostile to Venezuelan migrants in recent years. With scarce resources, Venezuelan migrants are bearing the brunt of the largest migration crisis in Latin American history, placing the blame for increased crime on migrants.
Dib said Velasquez had not yet been granted international protection at the time of the shooting, even though she sought help from Colombia’s Ombudsman Office in her application.
“There were so many things we could have done,” she said. “I think this is a wake-up call.”
____
Follow AP’s coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean. https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america
