Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Bogota, Colombia

PRESIDENT DUQUE: President Guaidó, welcome again to Colombia. We value your resolve, your leadership, your courage. And for me, it’s a great pleasure to host you and to host Vice President Pence.

We share the values of freedom and democracy, so please feel at home today. And please, Mr. Vice President, feel at home here in Colombia.

We have worked together for the liberation of Venezuela and to put an end to the dictatorship. And we want to listen to you, President Guaidó (inaudible).

INTERIM PRESIDENT GUAIDÓ: (Speaks Spanish.)

PRESIDENT DUQUE: (Speaks Spanish.)

VICE PRESIDENT PENCE: Well, thank you, President Duque, and thank you for your hospitality here in Colombia and for convening the Lima Group at such a critical time in the cause of freedom in Venezuela.

President Trump was pleased to welcome you to the White House a week ago. But he sent me here to stand with you and to stand with our friends and allies in Venezuela.

And to you, President Guaidó, it’s a great privilege to share this moment. I send you and President Duque the greetings of the President of the United States of America. And to you, President Guaidó, a very simple message from President Trump: That we are with you 100 percent.

And, President Duque, we are grateful for your stand for freedom and the stand for freedom that member nations in the Lima Group are making. And, President Guaidó, we admire your courage and the courage of all the opposition leaders who have come together to make this stand to end the suffering and end the oppression, and end the usurpation and dictatorship in Venezuela.

The United States was proud to be the first nation on Earth to recognize you as the legitimate President of Venezuela. And we are grateful to President Duque and now more than 50 nations around the world who have joined us in this cause.

And I want to assure you, President Guaidó, the tragic events of this past weekend have only steeled the resolve of the United States of America to stand with you and stand with freedom-loving people in Venezuela until liberty and democracy are restored.

Again, it’s an honor to be here in Colombia with you, President Duque, and a particular honor to share this with President Guaidó. I look forward to our discussion, and we’ll have more to say in a few moments. But the people of this hemisphere, the people of the wider world should know the United States of America stands for freedom in this hemisphere. We stand with President Juan Guaidó as the legitimate President of Venezuela. And we will keeping standing until your libertad is restored.

END