Human rights activist among two Venezuelans attacked in Colombia

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CARACAS (Reuters) -A Venezuelan human rights activist and a political consultant were shot and injured in Colombia’s capital on Monday in a hitman-style attack, Colombian officials said.  

Yendri Velasquez, a human rights and LGBT activist, and political consultant Luis Peche were stable after being shot while leaving a building in Bogota, Colombia’s national police reported, adding that Velasquez was to undergo surgery. 

The two had been in Colombia since September 2024, officials said. 

Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, who last week was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her pro-democracy activism in Venezuela, condemned the attack on social media and said the two men had been targeted by the government of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. 

According to Machado, Velasquez had sought refugee status in Colombia after being abducted in Venezuela in 2024 “for his work as a human rights defender,” while Peche “was also in Bogota due to political persecution by the Maduro regime.”

“This attack constitutes a serious aggression not only against them but against all the work of protecting and promoting human rights in the region,” Machado said.

Venezuela’s government did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 

In the past decade, overlapping economic and political crises in Venezuela have prompted millions to migrate to neighboring Colombia, including social and political activists and members of Venezuela’s political opposition.

Colombian President Gustavo Petro on Monday said that Venezuelans seeking asylum in Colombia were welcome “regardless of their views” and said the Colombian government would expand protections for human rights activists in the country.

(Reporting by Vivian Sequera in Caracas; Additional reporting and Writing by Brendan O’Boyle in Mexico City; Editing by David Gregorio)