(Bloomberg) — Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro, acting as a mediator in Venezuela’s political crisis, is proposing a democratic pact between the government of Nicolas Maduro and the opposition to ensure that the loser of the upcoming presidential election is shielded from any type of political persecution.
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The proposal is being considered by Maduro and the opposition, Petro said Wednesday during a joint news conference with Brazil’s Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who’s visiting Bogota. It involves a plebiscite to be carried out together with the July 28 vote to garner popular backing for the pact, he added.
It’s a “democratic pact to guarantee to whoever loses the security of their life, their political rights,” he said.
The leftist Colombian president traveled to Caracas earlier this month to discuss solutions to the political crisis with Maduro, who has blocked several potential contenders, including the winner of the opposition primary, from running in the election. He also met with Manuel Rosales, one of the few opponents who was allowed to register for the vote.
Petro also presented the proposal to Lula during their meeting, he said.
Lula didn’t make comments about the idea during the press conference, but agreed with the proposal and signed a joint statement that “encourages the (Venezuelan) government and sectors of the opposition to consider the possibility of reaching an agreement for democratic guarantees that may be endorsed in the ballots.”
(Updates with joint statement from Petro and Lula starting in fourth paragraph.)
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