The government of Nicolás Maduro on Thursday accused Colombian President Iván Duque of being “racist and xenophobic” for denying covid-19 vaccines to Venezuelans living in that country who have not yet regularized their documentation.
“This is terrible discrimination, a charge of racism, xenophobia and hatred against Venezuelan migrants in Colombia. We cannot allow it,” said Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez.
That is why, the vice president explained, she presented a “strong protest” to the representatives in Venezuela of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, with whom they held a “very important” meeting.
“We have denounced the terrible, barbaric, depraved statements made by Mr. Iván Duc (…) an expression so violating that it violates the human rights of Venezuelan migrants,” he continued.
Duc said on Monday that Venezuelan migrants who are not regularized in Colombia or do not have dual nationality will not be able to access the vaccines that will begin arriving in February 2021, a statement that has earned him numerous criticisms.
Colombia is the largest recipient of the Venezuelan exodus and as of October 31 this year the country had 1,717,352 citizens of that country, of which 55% are in a situation of irregularity, according to data from the migratory authority.
CALL BACK
Rodriguez reiterated on Thursday the call for Venezuelans to return to their country, as he again denied the veracity of the migration figures handled by bodies such as the UN, according to which about 5.4 million Venezuelans have emigrated in the last few years.
“Back in Venezuela (…) we know that there are not many, these figures have been manipulated, they speak of a figure that has no basis or possibility of transport that allow this mobility, it is a forgery,” he said.
The vice president recalled that this year some 200,000 Venezuelans returned to the country in the midst of the pandemic and thanks to the government’s return plan, known as the “Return to the Fatherland.”
“We demand respect for the human rights of Venezuelans in other countries, who went in search of a horizon,” he remarked.
He also noted that about six million Colombians live in Venezuela, who “have never been denied anything.”
LIFT PENALTIES
At the meeting, which was attended by the Venezuelan Chancellor, Jorge Arreaza, and the country’s human rights representative, Larry Devoe, the Maduro Executive stressed the need to lift the economic sanctions imposed in recent years, especially from the United States.
“We report on the steps taken by President Nicolás Maduro for the purposes of unlocking resources that allow Venezuela to access the Russian vaccine Sputnik V and others that are already recognized to address the covid-19 pandemic,” said Rodriguez.
He said Venezuela “has the resources to pay for its vaccine,” but that these “were blocked by orders from (US President) Donald Trump,” in reference to the more than 300 sanctions that, according to the Chavista executive, has imposed EE. UU.
In addition, he added, Venezuela has “many liquid financial resources in Europe” so the government is “making arrangements for them to be released for the purpose of accessing and paying for the Russian vaccine.”