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Venezuela's Guaido to meet Pompeo in Colombia

MIAMI (AP) – Venezuela opposition leader Juan Guaido has traveled to Colombia to participate alongside U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in a regional counter-terrorism meeting – a new show of support by the Trump administration for the man it says is the country's legitimate leader. From Bogota, Guaido plans to travel to Europe and then possibly the U.S., two people close to the opposition leader said. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss his travel plans. While Guaido's itinerary in Europe is unknown, he'll be traveling there as President Donald J. Trump is scheduled to attend Jan. 21-22 the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. That could set the stage for a first meeting between Guaido and Trump on the sidelines of the annual gathering of the world's business and political elite.

Colombian President Ivan Duque welcomed Guaido in a tweet on Sunday and said he would hold a "working meeting" with him later. Pompeo, meanwhile, told reporters en route back from a meeting in Berlin that he hoped Guaido would be at the summit, calling him "the duly elected leader of Venezuela." It wasn't clear how Guaido left Venezuela. But it's only the second time that he has defied a travel ban imposed by Venezuela's pro-government supreme court and secretly moved across the border. In his role as president of the National Assembly, Guaido is recognized as Venezuela's rightful leader by the U.S. and more than 50 nations that consider Nicolas Maduro's reelection invalid.

https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20200120/p2g/00m/0in/005000c