SEMANA: What is your opinion of the turnaround that President Gustavo Petro has given to relations with Venezuela and the recognition of Nicolás Maduro?
JUAN GUAIDO: Everything that happens in Colombia has repercussions in Venezuela. The important thing is to find a solution to the crisis in our country: there are 6.81 million immigrant refugees, the largest number in the world, similar to that of Ukraine and Syria. This is not a recognition of Juan Guaidó, of the figure of the president in charge, but of the migratory crisis, of the search for a solution to the conflict through a free and fair presidential election, of respecting human rights, of protecting those migrant refugees, of the Colombians in Venezuela who are also subject to persecution by the dictatorship of Nicolás Maduro. It is a decision of the Colombian Executive, of President Petro, of the relationship he has with the dictator Maduro or the approach he takes to seek solutions and support the democratic cause in Venezuela (…) There is something important: there is no peace in Colombia without democracy in Venezuela, as Petro has said. It not only has to do with immigrant refugees, but also with the protection of the ELN, the FARC dissidents in Venezuela, they have a safe territory there.
SEMANA: Did you think that Petro or his ambassador, Armando Benedetti, were going to call you?
J.G.: We are willing to talk with all the democratic governments in the region to pay for a solution to the conflict in Venezuela. That is a decision of President Petro, elected by Colombians, under fair and free elections, which is what we Venezuelans are fighting for. If it echoes what his years of campaigning and his defense of human rights were like, the denunciations of terrorist groups and the fight against corruption, the approach to a dictator is diametrically opposed. We are willing to talk to everyone and President Petro.
SEMANA: How is Guaidó against Colombia? There is a reality and it is that the Petro Government ignored it.
J.G.: It is not an ignorance of Guaidó, that would be reducing a conflict, even trivializing it. We are interested in recognizing the struggle of millions of Venezuelans to achieve democracy, protecting the human rights of millions of citizens who are being violated today. This is not about Guaidó, but about millions of immigrant refugees who fight for democracy and choose freely, as Petro was elected. This is not a conflict between Guaidó and Petro. It is about the defense of fundamental rights. Here the decision is Petro’s: he is on the side of democracy or a dictatorship.
SEMANA: What is your opinion of Ambassador Benedetti? He has already met with all the leaders of the regime…
J.G.: He is the envoy of President Petro, of the Colombians, the ambassador appointed by Petro before 30 million Venezuelans who represent binational interests. Benedetti’s voice in Venezuela is Petro’s voice. The important thing would be to talk about the defense of human rights, of the 6.81 million migrants, of how binational sovereignty will be guaranteed and safeguarded, as well as the conflict between the FARC and ELN dissidents. There is no total peace in Colombia without democracy in Venezuela, when there is safe territory for terrorist and irregular groups. That spoils any relationship. And also the commercial. The binational commercial relationship was 6,000 million dollars almost ten years ago, today it does not even reach 6 million. That is not going to be recovered with a handshake or smiles next to violators of human rights and requested by international justice.
SEMANA: Benedetti told SEMANA that you were nobody to him, to Colombia, or to the world. What do you think?
J.G.: We should ask him if the 6.81 million immigrant refugees, who we also represent, mean something for the defense of human rights. Again, this is not a Guaidó issue, it is not a microphone policy issue, it is respect for the sovereignty of nations. Falling into a microphone war with Petro’s envoy in Venezuela is absolutely fruitless. What does make sense is that Petro supports what he has promised: the defense of human rights. So, to say that there is no Article 233 in our Constitution, for which I am the president in charge, It would be to say that there are not millions of immigrant refugees and a complex humanitarian crisis in Venezuela.a.
SEMANA: Who will be your contact in Colombia? At least it won’t be with the Petro Government…
J.G.: With all those who receive us, those who listen to the clamor of Venezuelans, the media, with the free press that does know what is happening in Venezuela, with the Colombians who despise the dictatorship of Nicolás Maduro.
SEMANA: What room for maneuver do you have? Don’t you feel alone? The left is with Maduro.
J.G.: Approaching what is happening in Venezuela from ideology, even from the economy, is a tragic mistake. What is happening in Venezuela is not a problem of the left or the right or of improving the economy. The economy improves with legal certainty, with the rule of law, with confidence, with recovering the oil industry. Or is it that human rights respond to ideology? More than alone, I feel embraced by the international community that still defends democracy, by Venezuelans who do not give up.
SEMANA: Was it a mistake for the Joe Biden government to send a commission to Caracas to talk about oil? Don’t you feel like you’ve been betrayed?
J.G.: Without a doubt, he could have had a better approximation that visit. Now, the US policy has been very firm and clear. Example: in the progressive lifting of sanctions. The sanction is a tool to hold this type of dictator responsible, as is the case with Vladimir Putin in Russia, in Nicaragua with Daniel Ortega and Venezuela. So if the Maduro dictatorship is interested in the lifting of sanctions or licenses, there must be progress.
SEMANA: But do you feel that they betrayed you?
J.G.: No way. We continue with a fluid relationship and articulating alternative solutions to the conflict in Venezuela.
SEMANA: Many feel that your political project failed. Maduro is stronger in power
.J.G.: We are majorities who want a change in Venezuela, we have resisted many years in this stage. It is not about Juan Guaidó, but about the resistance of years of struggle of a society that is not going to give up. For this reason, approaching a dictator is relativizing the struggle and that democratic cause, for which we are going to insist.
SEMANA: Is Maduro still hiding the FARC and the ELN in Venezuela?
J.G.: Not only hiding, but protecting and financing. It is very clear how they have ceded territory. Maduro not only protects, he finances the FARC dissidents directly and indirectly by giving them territory.
SEMANA: Benedetti made it clear that he will not talk about the FARC or the ELN with Maduro, at least for now
.J.G.: Ignoring problems does not make them go away, it aggravates them. God help us! It is like the one who denies that he has cancer, that will not make the disease go away. You have to attend to it. You have to take your own measures. The diagnosis is very clear: Maduro is a dictator.
SEMANA: Let’s talk about Monomers, what will happen to the company?
J.G.: Monomers is a Colombian-Venezuelan fertilizer industry, where Venezuela has a majority. It is protected by United States licenses to operate after the sanctions against Maduro for violating human rights. We have three priorities: to remain at the service of Venezuelans and Colombians, especially at a difficult time, where the crisis in Ukraine has triggered food prices, where fertilizers are a fundamental requirement at this time; second, that it continues to belong to Venezuelans at the service of Colombians, and third, that it render accounts in a transparent manner. It will be President Petro’s decision whether he recognizes the dictator Maduro, which implies some practical consequences: Maduro is sanctioned by the United States, which has an impact if it is recognized directly or indirectly.
SEMANA: Petro has already made the decision, Monómeros will pass into the hands of Maduro.
J.G.: That has an impact because Maduro is sanctioned. Deliver today any company to Maduro, be it Monomers or the gold that is in England, or Citgo, which is in the United States, it means directly or indirectly financing a dictatorship. For Monómeros it implies entering the United States sanctions regime.
SEMANA: Do you plan to challenge Petro’s decision to hand over the company to Maduro?
J.G.: Our responsibility is to safeguard the assets of Venezuelans and that they do not fall into the hands of a dictatorship that has squandered them in the past, as recently happened with a Dominican refinery. Unfortunately, they finished it off. We are evaluating at the legal level.
SEMANA: Maduro wants to sell Monomers to Colombia, according to Benedetti. What does he think?
J.G.: It would be the biggest contradiction in history, although they have had many. There is a very clear fact: with the protection of United States assets, in the case of Colombia, with former President Iván Duque, both Citgo and Monómeros remained in the hands of Venezuelans at the service of Colombian society. Selling a company without the authorization of Parliament or the consent of the majority of Venezuelans would not only constitute a great act of hypocrisy on the part of Maduro, but also clearly reflect what they are.
SEMANA: I mean, you don’t agree…
J.G.: Monómeros is today majority owned by Venezuelans, it has paid off for us Colombians and Venezuelans. We do not agree to hand over the assets of Venezuela.
SEMANA: Should Colombia buy gas from Venezuela?
J.G.: It would be the same as buying gas from Vladimir Putin, it is financing a war and destabilization apparatus. Now, is there a need for gas in Colombia? There is. There is a reality and we cannot be oblivious to that. But it must be understood that financing a dictatorship has a negative impact, sooner or later, on binational relations.
SEMANA: Isn’t your political project a failure?
J.G.: Our project is democracy and that cannot fail. I can guarantee it today as a Venezuelan. What is a failure is getting used to a dictatorship.
SEMANA: What message do you send to Petro and Benedetti?
J.G.: To Petro: we must fight for the defense of human rights, assert those years of professing human rights that are being violated in Venezuela today. Our demand is simple: fight for free and fair presidential elections, join the cause of democracy, recognize the suffering of a people, the struggle of an entire society to assert its rights and seek a solution to the conflict. An entire society cannot be ignored.
SEMANA: And Benedetti?
J.G.: Petro gives Benedetti instructions.