Colombia announces withdrawal from the Union of South American Nations

Colombian President Ivan Duque. Photo: Internet

“For years, I have been publicly stating that Colombia should no longer be part of UNASUR, a cover-up that ensures that the repressive actions (against citizens) of the Venezuelan dictatorship go unreported,” said President Duque, who took office in early August, in a press release. The Colombian government has begun the formal process of withdrawing from the Treaty that established UNASUR.

Previously, on August 10, three days after Mr. Ivan Duque took office, Colombian Foreign Minister Carlos Holmes Trujillo also announced that Colombia was withdrawing from the treaty. However, Colombia will continue to work to promote “multilateralism” in the region according to the Democratic Charter of the Americas signed within the framework of the Organization of American States (OAS).

UNASUR is a regional alliance founded in 2008 by the initiative of Presidents of Brazil and Venezuela, Lula and Hugo Chavez, headquartered in Quito. Initially, UNASUR consisted of 14 members. In April 2018, six members, including Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, Chile, Peru and Paraguay, decided to suspend their participation in UNASUR until a new Secretary General was appointed to replace Ernesto Samper, the former Colombian Secretary General who resigned in January 2017.

Relations between Colombia and Venezuela, which share a 2,200-kilometer border, remain tense. During his inauguration, Duque issued a direct warning to his Venezuelan counterpart Nicolas Maduro, whom he has repeatedly described as a “dictator,” that he would not recognize such a government.

More than a year ago, Colombia virtually froze relations with Venezuela as hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans fled the country to escape its economic crisis.