Two Venezuelans exiled in Colombia, activist Yendri Velásquez and political consultant Luis Peche, suffered a hitman attack this Monday in the north of Bogotá. They were shot from a motorcycle while leaving a building in the town of Usaquén to take a transportation service, as reported by the Colombian Police in a statement. Both are “stable” after being transferred to the Reina Sofía Hospital, where Velásquez underwent surgery. The president, , has responded to the attack with a promise to expand protection for human rights activists “from any country in the world.”
The Police have indicated that the two Venezuelans arrived in Colombia in September 2024 and that neither registers threats in the country. The Ombudsman’s Office, for its part, added that Velásquez had requested their support to process a refugee application, after “having had to flee his country of origin due to persecution derived from his work in defense of human rights.” The UN Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Association and Assembly, Gina Romero, has regretted in
The attack suffered by the young activists has generated shock among human rights defenders in Venezuela and the region. Romero has indicated that he received the information “with horror” and has demanded that “transnational repression be condemned.” The Colombian Ombudsman’s Office has demanded that migrants and refugees have “the necessary support and accompaniment” from the authorities. “The Venezuelan people deserve to live in peace and democracy (…). We urge the Attorney General’s Office to carry out a prompt and exhaustive investigation that will clarify the facts,” he declared in a statement. The Venezuelan NGO Access to Justice has demanded that the Government of Colombia investigate and identify those responsible.
leader of the Venezuelan opposition, has also requested “an exhaustive, transparent and urgent investigation that will clarify the facts” and that Colombia guarantee the protection of all Venezuelans exiled in the country. He has emphasized that both Velásquez and Peche are “persecuted by the dictatorship of Nicolás Maduro.” “This attack constitutes a serious aggression not only against them, but against all the work to protect and promote human rights in the region,” he stressed in X.
President Petro has given another version of the events, unrelated to Maduro. He has hinted, without giving further details, that organized crime is behind the attack. “We know what the violent people are looking for in this case. We know of the meeting in Cúcuta of the coordinated mafias. Those who want peace will be shaken, the others will be confronted forcefully,” he commented on “All Venezuelan citizens who want to seek asylum in Colombia, regardless of their ideas, are welcome, as has been demonstrated in recent years. No one can say that the Government has bothered them,” he declared.
Two renowned activists
For several years, Velásquez has been active in human rights activism. He is the founder of the LGBTIQ+ Violence Observatory, which provides psychosocial and legal care to victims of that community. He was one of the first exiles after the 2024 elections. He was detained by security forces when he was going to take a flight at the Maiquetía airport to attend the sessions of the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination in Geneva. His whereabouts were unknown for six hours until they released him and his passport was revoked.
After the incident at the airport, which occurred at a time when Chavismo intensified repression amid protests and allegations of fraud in the presidential elections, Velásquez left the country like hundreds of Venezuelans dedicated to politics, journalism and the defense of human rights. In that exodus, Peche, who is a political scientist and internationalist and leads a political analysis project on Venezuela called Sala 58, also emerged.
