Vice President Mike Pence will be traveling to Colombia next week as the White House continues to rally international support for Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido.
The White House confirmed in a statement Thursday that Pence accepted Colombian President Ivan Duque Marquez’s invitation to the South American nation. He will address the regional Lima group in Bogota and will focus on the efforts by U.S. and allied officials to deliver humanitarian assistance to Venezuela.
Pence will also voice the administration’s position that Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, whose leadership in Caracas is embroiled in an international dispute, must peacefully transition out of power.
Pence will additionally meet Duque in the presidential palace, where they will both greet refugee groups after the meeting.
“The struggle in Venezuela is between dictatorship and democracy, and freedom has the momentum. Juan Guaido is the only legitimate leader of Venezuela, and it’s time for Nicolas Maduro to go,” said Alyssa Farah, the vice president’s press secretary. “The United States is proud to join the Lima Group and other global partners to marshal our resources, provide much needed humanitarian relief, and stand together with the people of Venezuela until democracy and freedom are fully restored.”
United States Agency for International Development head Mark Green was in Colombia last weekend working to deliver humanitarian aid across the border to Venezuela. Sen. Marco Rubio and Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, both of Florida, also traveled to Colombia to make a visit to the Colombia-Venezuela border, a hotbed in the ongoing refugee crisis.
Both Rubio and Diaz-Balart concluded their trip with a joint appearance with President Trump, Sen. Rick Scott, and Gov. Ron DeSantis in Miami on Monday. At the event, Trump delivered a rebuke against Maduro and socialism.
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