Congressman Guevara denounced the stigmatization against Venezuelan migrants promoted by the mayor of Bogotá

The deputy of the National Assembly, Freddy Guevara, denounced the stigmatization promoted by the mayor of Bogotá, Claudia López, against Venezuelan migrants living in Colombia.

This Saturday, the mayor of Bogota congratulated the Colombian National Police via Twitter for apprehending an alleged criminal of Venezuelan nationality, assuring that the intelligence work “pursues the Venezuelan criminal gangs to give relief to the neighborhoods of Bogota.”

In response to the Colombian official’s remonstration in her social network accounts, the Venezuelan parliamentarian Freddy Guevara said: “Mayor, this no longer seems a mistake but a clear and decisive strategy. It even seems that she is already doing it to generate controversy and votes. There are polls that reflect an anti Venezuelan sentiment, and instead of solving it, it fuels it”.

Guevara supported the apprehension of Venezuelan criminals in that country, however, he assured that the stigmatization of fellow countrymen in a systematic way can bring serious consequences to migrants.

“Not that they pursue Venezuelan criminals, that’s fine. Stigmatization comes when you choose to join the name of a population (“Venezuelans”) to a negative adjective (“criminals”) in a systematic way,” he explained.

The congressman addressed a message to the mayor to stop the stigmatization of Venezuelans living in Colombia after fleeing the serious humanitarian crisis in the country, assuring that his person has also suffered vestiges against him.

“She is educated. Even worse, she is part of a community (LGBTI) that has suffered much stigmatization. This is no longer a slip of the tongue. It looks like strategy and it must be denounced,” he said.

Donde esta la xenofobia aquí?

No en que persigan criminales venezolanos, eso está bien.

La estigmatizacion viene cuando eliges juntar el nombre de una población (“venezolanos”) a un adjetivo negativo (“criminales”) de manera sistemática.

Eso generaliza y trae consecuencias https://t.co/LeQkaj0SBD

— Freddy Guevara (@FreddyGuevaraC) November 7, 2020