The World Today
MADRID, 18 (EUROPA PRESS)
Venezuelan dissident María Alejandra Díaz Marín confirmed this Sunday that she is in Colombia with some family members, after the Colombian government announced earlier this month that it had granted "diplomatic asylum" to the lawyer, who had denounced "politically motivated persecution" by Caracas.
"Thanks to the efforts of the Government of President Gustavo Petro, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Rosa Yolanda Villavicencio, as well as the ambassador, Milton Rengifo, and the collaboration of dozens of anonymous heroes, we managed to leave the residence of the Colombian ambassador in Caracas and we are in Colombian territory safe and in the company of part of the family," he reported on his account on the social network X, where he thanked the support received.
Her announcement comes days after she publicly denounced Venezuela's refusal to grant her safe conduct, alleging the absence of "persecution against (her)" and "no arrest warrant or open judicial process," in a lengthy statement on her X account in which she also recounted her case, including that in November 2024 the Supreme Court suspended her from the free professional practice of law, without due process.
The Colombian diplomatic ministry responded by confirming the granting of asylum to Díaz Marín on January 11. He "claimed to be a victim of politically and ideologically motivated persecution by the Venezuelan state," a decision Bogotá communicated to authorities in the neighboring country.
