Colombian President Gustavo Petro defended Venezuela's authoritarian leader Nicolás Maduro and criticized opposition figure and recent Nobel Peace Prize laureate María Corina Machado, calling her "a despicable person" for, he said, inviting foreign intervention in Venezuela.
In an interview with journalist Daniel Coronell, Petro contrasted Maduro's actions with Machado's, saying that while Venezuela's authoritarian president "is reacting so that Venezuela begins to have an economy without oil," Machado represents "a person who invites the invasion of their own country." He added, "For me, a despicable person is one who invites others to invade their own country — a traitor, period."
