Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó is holding a news conference Thursday in Coral Gables, days after he was threatened with deportation in Colombia.
Guaidó told The Associated Press earlier this week in Miami that he is not seeking political asylum in the U.S. and has not ruled out the possibility of running in a presidential primary in his homeland planned for October.
Guaidó spoke to The Associated Press by phone from Miami Tuesday, where he arrived on a commercial flight that departed Colombia’s capital Monday night, hours after he crossed the border between that country and Venezuela with the intent of meeting with diplomats and other participants of an international conference focused on Venezuela’s political crisis.
“I will have work meetings and obviously also time to assess the security situation among other things,” he said. “I am not requesting political asylum at this time.”
His remarks came after Colombian authorities said he was subject to an administrative process for having crossed the border without getting his passport stamped upon entry. Colombian President Gustavo Petro insisted Guaidó was not deported and traveled to the United States with permission from that country.
Guaidó told the AP the U.S. government intervened when he was threatened with deportation after he crossed the border and intended to take a flight from Cucuta, a Colombian city near the border, to Bogota.
“Basically, there was a threat that this could be grounds for deportation,” he said. “That was via telephone (with) diplomatic officials… It was thanks to the mediation of the United States that in my case I feel that I was not deported.”
He said a U.S. government official handed him the ticket to Miami after Colombian immigration agents escorted him to the airport in Bogota. His wife and two daughters remain in Venezuela, for which he is deeply worried. He said he is exploring “all options” regarding their future.
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