ISTANBUL

Colombian President Gustavo Petro urged Venezuela to pursue “more democracy, not more repression,” saying broader political inclusion and a national pact, not military mobilization, are essential to defending the country amid rising regional tensions.

In remarks shared on US social media company X on Wednesday, Petro said Maduro's government must recognize that “the response to an external aggression is not just military mobilization but a democratic revolution.”

“It is with more democracy that a country is defended, not with more inefficient repressions,” he wrote, calling for a “general amnesty, not extending the prison.”

Drawing a historical comparison, Petro said European nations defeated Nazi Germany through a broad political and social pact that expanded workers’ rights, social security, and economic participation after the war. He noted that soldiers from the US, Soviet Union and various European resistance movements fought “because they knew there would be a more democratic society in Europe.”

“More democracy is the problem in Venezuela,” Petro continued, urging the creation of a transitional government that includes “all and everyone.”

He said Venezuela, which he referred to as “Bolivar’s homeland," must not be subjected to “foreign invasion, empty rhetoric or soul prisons,” adding that it can only be defended “with more democracy and sovereignty.”

The opposition in Venezuela claims last July’s presidential election, in which Maduro won a third term, was rigged. The US, which has now deployed military assets in the Caribbean and has accused the president of sending lethal drugs to the country, rejected the vote.