Venezuela would denounce Duque before the ICC for "extermination" of migrants

While the Government of Nicolás Maduro attacks President Iván Duque, the Colombian government has been internationally applauded for its immigration policies.

Venezuela reported this Wednesday that it will denounce Colombian President Iván Duque, Nicolás Maduro's greatest political enemy, before the International Criminal Court (ICC) for the “crime of extermination and persecution” of Venezuelan migrants in his territory.

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The announcement was made by Vice President Delcy Rodríguez after the murder of two Venezuelan teenagers in a border region, for which Colombian authorities and the United Nations opened an investigation.

“I want to officially announce, inform the country and the international community, that Venezuela will take Iván Duque before the International Criminal Court for the crime of extermination and persecution (...) against our migrants. It has become a systematic and massive policy, ”Rodríguez said in an address broadcast on government television.

The two young men, ages 12 and 18, were shot after being accused of robbing a warehouse in the violent municipality of Tibú, in northeastern Colombia. In videos and photos disseminated on social networks, adolescents are seen with their heads down and their hands tied forward while an off-camera person accuses them of “thieves”.

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Their bodies were later found and their hands were still tied; a cardboard with the word "thieves" written by hand rested on the body of the smallest.

"Hopefully this crime does not go unpunished," insisted the vice president, who condemned the death of more than 2,000 Venezuelan migrants in Colombia between 2017 and 2021, citing official figures from Colombian Legal Medicine.

In a statement, the Colombian Foreign Ministry condemned the "horrible crime" of minors and assured that Rodríguez's statements are "unfounded."

The Colombian police blame dissidents from the ex-guerrilla of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), who departed from the peace agreement signed in 2016, for the execution of the youth.

Almost 2 million Venezuelans migrated to Colombia, fleeing the economic crisis. Rodríguez recommended that they return.

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"President Nicolás Maduro has extended his hand to you, return to your country (...). We do not want to see our migrants being humiliated, humiliated, persecuted, murdered, "he said.

While Rodríguez denounces a campaign of xenophobia and hatred in the neighboring country, the Duque government has been internationally applauded for its decision to regularize undocumented Venezuelans.

Venezuela and Colombia, which share a porous border of more than 2,000 km, have not had diplomatic relations since 2019, when Duque recognized opposition leader Juan Guaidó as president in charge of Venezuela.

Maduro accuses Duque of conspiring and planning attacks against him along with the United States, his other great political enemy. Duque, on the other hand, also accuses the Venezuelan of promoting attacks in Colombia and even seeking to interfere in the 2022 elections.

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