Bogota.- The president-elect of Colombia, Abelardo de la Espriella, clarified this Saturday that he has not proposed “disregarding the sovereignty of Venezuela,” after the government of that country responded to some of his statements regarding the necessary reconstruction following the double earthquake on June 24.
“At no time was it proposed to disregard the sovereignty of Venezuela or to replace the responsibilities that correspond to its authorities,” stated the press office of De la Espriella, who will assume the presidency on August 7, in a statement.
The president-elect added that “the reconstruction of the affected areas is a challenge of enormous proportions that can benefit from international solidarity, the technical experience of neighboring countries, and the participation of their productive sectors, always within the cooperation mechanisms that are appropriate and with full respect for international law.”
The statement came after the Venezuelan Government stressed today in a statement that the planning and reconstruction following the earthquakes is its “exclusive” competence, and that it has already “activated” its public companies, national industries, and private sector to carry out this process.
De la Espriella’s message that unsettled Venezuela
The Venezuelan Foreign Ministry reacted in this way and “with surprise” to statements by De la Espriella, who this Friday at a public event asserted that “the reconstruction of Venezuela after the earthquake must be carried out by Colombia, with everything that implies.”
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“The incoming Government of the Republic of Colombia took note of the statement issued by the Government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela on the occasion of the statements made by the president-elect, Abelardo de La Espriella,” added the office of the next Colombian leader today.
According to the statement, De la Espriella made his claims “from an exclusively humanitarian and regional cooperation perspective, inspired by the conviction that, in the face of tragedies of this magnitude, neighboring countries must be willing to pool their capabilities to alleviate the suffering of the affected communities.”
In that sense, his office highlighted today that Colombia has the technical, logistical, and human capabilities “that could contribute significantly to debris removal, infrastructure recovery, and reconstruction efforts, should the institutional channels and the will for cooperation between the parties exist.”
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“Tragedies do not distinguish between borders or ideologies. In such moments, solidarity between brotherly peoples must prevail over any political difference,” he added.
