Venezuela’s dictator Nicolás Maduro may soon face bad news on the diplomatic front: More than 40 countries are considering cutting diplomatic relations or reducing their ties with Venezuela starting Jan. 10, when he is scheduled to start a new six-year term in office.
Colombian President Ivan Duque told the daily El Tiempo last weekend that, following up on his country’s decision not to recognize the results of Venezuela’s fraudulent May 20 elections, “We are not going to go through the charade of maintaining diplomatic relations” with Venezuela after Maduro’s current term expires.
Similarly, Chilean President Sebastian Piñera told me in a recent interview that since most of the 14 Latin American countries that make up the Group of Lima did not recognize the results of Venezuela’s elections, “We do not recognize the president who emerged from that election, and we will not recognize Maduro as president of Venezuela.”