The number of Venezuelan refugees coming to Colombia could reach 3.5 million if the crisis transpiring in its neighbor to the west becomes catastrophic, Colombian Foreign Minister Carlos Holmes Trujillo told Sputnik.
“Scenarios we are working with indicate that if the situation in Venezuela worsens, this figure [number of refugees] could rise to 1.8 million. Only in Colombia. And if a disaster strikes Venezuela, 3.5 million Venezuelans will come to Colombia,” Trujillo said.
The minister added that Colombia had so far hosted 1.3 million Venezuelans and that this figure was always going up due to the continuously deteriorating situation in the Bolivarian Republic.
Venezuela has been suffering from a severe political crisis since late January, when US-backed opposition leader Juan Guaido proclaimed himself interim leader in a bid to oust President Nicolas Maduro from power.
Maduro has, meanwhile, accused Washington of working with Guaido to orchestrate a coup to take control of Venezuela’s resources.
The United States and other countries, including Colombia, have endorsed Guaido and called on Maduro to step down to allow for a new election to be organized. China, Bolivia, Russia, Turkey and numerous other countries have, in turn, voiced their support for Maduro as Venezuela’s only legitimate president.
