Responding to claims made by opposition leaders in Venezuela, Colombia’s Chanciller, Maria Angela Holguin, told reporters Wednesday that President Juan Manuel Santos has done nothing to impede any investigations into the birth of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
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“President Santos has not had absolutely anything to do with the National Civil State Registry, nor has he in any moment impeded any of its processes,” said Holguin.
Controversy was stirred last month when opposition leaders in Venezuela presented a document to the media supposedly proving that Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro was in fact born in Colombia, and accordingly, barred from holding his office.
The document was subsequently declared false by the Colombian government, but the charges against Maduro have persisted, at least among certain committed opponents, who have denounced Santos for his alleged “interference” in internal Venezuelan affairs.
On Wednesday, however, Holguin called the claims “absolutely false”, and said anyone who wants to get information from the National Registry merely has to present themselves and ask for it.