MEPs from The Left in the European Parliament are making clear their opposition to the address by Colombian President Iván Duque to the plenary in Strasbourg. 

The group is holding a demonstration outside the chamber ahead of his speech to protest against Duque’s abysmal human rights record. The Co-Presidents of The Left, Manon Aubry and Martin Schirdewan, are also boycotting the address and will not be present in the chamber while Duque speaks.

The Left criticises the brutality of the crackdown on protesters in Colombia last year, repression of labour organising and indigenous communities, human rights violations, and the ultraconservative elements in Duque’s governing coalition. Duque, who openly campaigned against the 2016 peace agreement, has been actively undermining its implementation.

Our MEPs believe that allowing him to address the Parliament, given the condemnation his government has received from human rights groups, constitutes an intolerable double standard on human rights on the part of the European Parliament.