José Antonio Ocampo, former Minister of Finance of the Gustavo Petro government, described as “Colombia’s vote in the Organization of American States (OAS) is a disgrace.”
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The former official, who is a columnist for EL TIEMPO, referred to the extraordinary session of the OAS held in Washington to issue a resolution demanding that the Venezuelan authorities immediately publish the minutes of Sunday’s elections, which gave Nicolás Maduro the questionable winner over Edmundo González.
The resolution was voted in favour by 17 votes, none against, 11 abstentions (including Colombia, Brazil and Mexico) and five absences. In this way, it did not obtain the support of the absolute majority of the members of the organization to be approved.
The Colombian government’s decision to abstain has sparked criticism. In fact, Ocampo added that the vote in the OAS is contrary to what President Gustavo Petro and Foreign Minister Luis Gilberto Murillo had stated.“It is essential that the Venezuelan authorities make public all the minutes of the elections and that a recount of the votes be carried out under international surveillance”he noted.
Colombia’s vote at the OAS was a disgrace. Contrary to what the President and the Foreign Minister had stated. It is essential that the Venezuelan authorities make known all the minutes of the elections and that a vote count be carried out under surveillance…
— Jose Antonio Ocampo (@JoseA_Ocampo) August 1, 2024
This position was echoed by former President Juan Manuel Santos, who also described Colombia’s vote in the OAS as “a disgrace.”
In this regard, on Wednesday night, the Foreign Ministry explained in a statement that its abstention from the OAS resolution on Venezuela was due to the fact that it wants to maintain dialogue with Nicolás Maduro and said that, in any case, any pronouncement is “a salute to the flag” because that country is not part of the multilateral organization.
“The Colombian government advocates maintaining dialogue between the parties and avoiding violence in Venezuela. As stated by the President of the Republic, Gustavo Petro, in his most recent communication, the Venezuelan authorities have been asked for a transparent scrutiny, vote counting and international oversight of the minutes and final results of the electoral process,” added the Colombian government document.
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