What happened in the visit of Carlos Holmes Trujillo to the United Nations?

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The Colombian chancellor visited New York to fulfill his agenda before the UN. They talked about Venezuela and the creation of an international anti-corruption court

Venezuela on the watch of the UN

In the last week of January, the chancellor of Colombia, Carlos Holmes Trujillo, attended the meeting held by the UN Security Council regarding the political crisis in Venezuela.

Leer en español: ¿Qué pasó en la visita de Carlos Holmes Trujillo a las Naciones Unidas?

The newspaper El Espectador quoted the words of the Colombian diplomat in that meeting: "the Venezuelan issue is formally dealt with in the organization". As on different occasions the Venezuelan situation did not arrive with such formalism to the Security Council, it had only been addressed by the OAS.

On the other hand, this same Colombian newspaper said that Trujillo reaffirmed Colombia's position on Maduro and Guaidó. That is, unconditional support for the interim president of Venezuela, Juan Guaidó, due to the usurpation of powers and unconstitutional elections.

In addition, the newspaper El Tiempo added that this Latin American diplomat requested international humanitarian aid to support the people of Venezuela. He also asked to reject the false dialogues of peace that Maduro's government has proposed.

READ ALSO: How do the new US sanctions against Venezuela work?

What is the International Anti-Corruption Court?

One of the proposals that most resonated these days in New York was the creation of an International Anti-Corruption Court by former Senator Trujillo. According to the foreign minister, and as W Radio explained, "Different international instruments such as the Inter-American Convention or the United Nations Convention against Corruption have been approved, but it has not been enough." Corruption continues to plague society on all continents "

Last year, Colombia had already formally requested extraordinary sessions at the UN General Assembly to address the scourge of corruption. The reason: cases such as Odebrecht have permeated the political environment of all of South America. It must be clarified that said court would only act as an instrument of complementarity, that is, when the authorities do not want to judge the cases, explained W Radio.

Bilateral meetings and Commissions

In parallel to these issues, there was news that put Colombia on the international scene: the election of the diplomat Guillermo Fernández de Soto as the president of the UN Peacebuilding Commission.

For the newspaper El Espectador, and for the chancellor Holmes Trujillo, Colombia will be able to contribute much to this commission given that "The fundamental thing for Colombia, which begins to preside over this commission, is that it will allow us to share the lessons learned and, naturally, there will be a great contribution to support efforts of other nations in the search for peace. "

There were also two bilateral meetings of Colombia with Indonesia and the United Kingdom, as well as a meeting with Antonio Guterres, Secretary General of the UN.

What did this visit leave?

These meetings in New York left more promises than commitments. First, the interim situation of Venezuela was put on the table, a subject that had not been treated with such formality until this year.

Second, Colombia's proposal to create a global anti-corruption organization, to try to reduce the effects of this phenomenon in the world and in Latin America.

Third, Colombia will be in charge of the UN Peacebuilding Commission, which is in charge of presenting projects for the maintenance of peace in countries that are at war.

According to the UN, the agency "has the mandate to "channel resources, propose comprehensive strategies for peacebuilding and post-conflict recovery and offer advice on these strategies".

Fourth, there were several bilateral trade meetings between Colombia and European and Asian States.

Finally, the United Nations also ratified the support for the Colombian peace process, as well as its implementation.

LatinAmerican Post | Miguel Díaz

Translated from "¿Qué pasó en la visita de Carlos Holmes Trujillo a las Naciones Unidas?​"​​​​​​