Mayor of Bogotá rejects criticism for her statements about Venezuelans

The mayor of Bogotá, Claudia López, delivers a speech on September 1, 2020. (Credit: Daniel Muñoz / AFP / Getty Images)

(CNN Spanish) -

The mayor of Bogotá, Claudia López, rejected this Friday the criticisms that they described as "xenophobic" her statements about Venezuelan immigrants who commit crimes.

The controversy was generated on Thursday, when López participated in a local government council in the town of Kennedy.

When referring to the insecurity in the Colombian capital, the president stated: «I do not want to stigmatize, nor was it lacking, Venezuelans, but there are some immigrants involved in criminality who are making our lives like squares (...).

Anyone who comes to earn a decent living here, well welcome, but whoever comes to commit a crime should be deported without contemplation ”.

The statements generated criticism from several users on social networks and even the reaction of Tomás Guanipa, Juan Guaidó's ambassador in Colombia.

“Madam Mayor, no one opposes the full weight of the law being applied to whoever commits a crime.

Now, without a doubt, his statements stigmatize Venezuelans with the label of criminals, that is a clear act of xenophobia that generates hatred against our compatriots, ”Guanipa wrote on his Twitter account.

Reactions on social networks to Claudia López's statements

Another of those who spoke out against the mayor's statements was Carlos Fernando Galán, president of the Bogotá Council.

“In conditions as adverse as the ones we are living in, pointing out Venezuelans of our insecurity is the easiest way out.

It is a visible migration with many needs.

Pointing them sure pleases many, but it is mean and dangerous, "he said in a tweet.

Some Twitter users showed their support for López's comments.

“It is not xenophobia.

It is proceeding as it should, ”wrote one user.

“As in some first world countries they do;

apply the respective penalty and once they finish it, they are immediately deported and due to their criminal record they are prohibited from returning to Colombia, "he added.

"Whoever commits a crime should NOT be welcomed. Even as Venezuelans it hurts us directly that these people are in Colombia committing crimes," said a Venezuelan netizen.

This Friday, Claudia López used that same social network to defend herself from criticism.

He noted that the law provides for the deportation of those who commit crimes in Colombia.

And he considered that this regulation "is not xenophobic", but "logical".

"Asking that it be applied is not xenophobia either, it is using legal tools that we have to guarantee security, coexistence and justice to all," he said.

The director of Migration Colombia, Juan Francisco Espinosa, said this Friday that during 2019 more than 11,000 Venezuelan citizens were captured, the majority for cases of theft or drug trafficking.

Citing Police figures, Espinosa indicated that 96% of crimes in the country are committed by Colombians.

And he added that crime on the street is "unacceptable, no matter where it comes from."

He also considered that if someone commits a crime, they must be prosecuted without asking where they come from.

"The origin has nothing to do with crime," he said.