Colombian President Petro Demands Explanations from Nobel Laureate María Corina Machado Over 2018 Letter

Colombian President Gustavo Petro demanded an "explanation" this Saturday from the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize winner, Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado, concerning a letter she sent in 2018 to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and then-Argentine President Mauricio Macri, requesting their help to restore democracy in Venezuela.

Petro, who had briefly congratulated Machado on winning the Nobel yesterday, made a lengthy post on the social media platform X today. In it, he initially acknowledged that the letter in question was sent by the Venezuelan opposition leader to Netanyahu and Macri *"before the genocide in Gaza had occurred."_

"What I do not understand and want you to explain is why you request help from a criminal against humanity, with an international arrest warrant, to bring democracy to Venezuela?" President Petro stated in his post, addressing the new Nobel Peace laureate.

In a "corrected" version published by the head of state hours later on X, he phrased his question to Machado differently and made other modifications.

"What I do not understand and want you to explain is: If you now request help from a criminal against humanity, with an international arrest warrant, to bring democracy to Venezuela?" Petro wrote in the new version.

The Colombian president also questioned: *"What does it mean that the people in Norway who award this prize encourage that type of global alliance, which could only be one of barbarism and war and not of peace?"

"In these years of genocide that I have fought against, what I have seen is that the political formations furthest to the far-right in the world, those who sympathize with Hitler, have become the only allies of the genocide and of Netanyahu. How can a genocidal individual help make peace in Venezuela?" Petro added.

Machado's Missive

In the letter from Machado to Netanyahu and Macri, dated December 4, 2018, and published today by the Colombian president, the opposition leader began by stating: *"The population of Venezuela needs international protection against the widespread and systematic attack to which the Venezuelan regime is subjecting it."

She also called attention to "the close relationship" of the Venezuelan government "with Iran and extremist groups that, as we all know, pose an existential threat to Israel and have operated in Argentine territory," referring to terrorist attacks carried out in Buenos Aires in 1992 and 1994.

In his post on X, Petro also referred to the revocation of his visa to enter the United States and the US military deployment in Caribbean waters, where several boats allegedly transporting drugs have been sunk, reportedly causing the deaths of around twenty people, including several Venezuelans and Colombians.

The initial version of his post concluded: *"With all due respect that you deserve, helping the Venezuelan people is not achieved by bringing Netanyahu to take action regarding Venezuela. That can only mean genocide for the people and illegal international armed aggression against Venezuela."

This paragraph was removed by Petro in the new version and replaced with: *"Don't you think that the Venezuelan people should not be under the threat of invasion and, instead, should be joyful, without blockades, to unleash a great national dialogue with all Venezuelans without exception?"