Venezuela’s Guaido expelled from Colombia

Colombia expelled leading Venezuelan opposition figure Juan Guaido on Monday, hours after he arrived in Bogota for a conference on his crisis-torn country.

Colombia expelled leading Venezuelan opposition figure Juan Guaido on Monday, hours after he arrived in Bogota for a conference on his crisis-torn country.

Neither Mr. Guaido, recognised in 2019 by more than 50 countries as Venezuela's de facto leader, nor Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro were invited to attend the event.

The conference, organised by Colombia's President Gustavo Petro, seeks to restart negotiations between Venezuela's government and the opposition that began in Mexico City in 2021 but reached a deadlock in November.

Venezuela's opposition, backed by many countries including the United States, did not recognise Maduro's 2018 re-election in a vote widely dismissed as fraudulent.

The next year, Washington ramped up sanctions against Caracas, which were first imposed in 2015 over the brutal repression of anti-government protests.

Last month, a Venezuelan official said free presidential elections in 2024 were dependent on the lifting of sanctions.

Colombia's foreign ministry said Mr. Guaido, who arrived in Bogota in an "irregular manner", was taken to the capital city's El Dorado airport for a "departure on a commercial airline to the United States during the night."