On October 13, 2025, gunfire shattered the afternoon calm in the affluent Cedritos neighborhood of northern Bogotá, Colombia. Two Venezuelan activists—political analyst Luis Alejandro Peche and LGBTQ+ and human rights defender Yendri Omar Velásquez—were ambushed and shot by unidentified assailants. According to reports from AP and local Colombian media, the attackers arrived by car, waited for their targets, and unleashed a hail of bullets—about 15 shots—before fleeing on foot. The chilling attack left Peche with gunshot wounds to his leg, femur, and buttock, while Velásquez suffered injuries so severe that he required a lengthy emergency surgery, significant blood transfusions, and intensive care. He was expected to undergo a second hip operation the following day.
The violence sent shockwaves through Colombia’s sizable Venezuelan diaspora, amplifying fears that the repression and political targeting long associated with President Nicolás Maduro’s regime may now be crossing borders. Both Peche and Velásquez had fled Venezuela just the year prior, citing escalating political persecution after Maduro’s disputed reelection and a nationwide crackdown that saw over 2,000 government critics detained, as reported by AP. Velásquez himself had been arbitrarily detained by Venezuelan authorities in August 2024 while attempting to leave the country for a human rights conference, and had his passport revoked—a pattern of harassment documented by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.
The two men were not alone in their plight. According to migration authorities cited by BBC, more than 2.8 million Venezuelans were living in Colombia as of May 2025, part of an exodus of nearly 8 million who have fled Venezuela’s deepening crisis in recent years. Many, like Peche and Velásquez, believed Colombia offered a safer haven—until now.
In the immediate aftermath, the Juntos Se Puede Foundation, an NGO supporting Venezuelan migrants and refugees, confirmed that both victims were in stable condition following emergency treatment. Yet the sense of security among Venezuelan exiles was deeply shaken. Laura Dib, Venezuela Program Director for the Washington Office on Latin America and a colleague of Velásquez, told AP, “It’s tragedy after tragedy. It has been a really hard day for all of the human rights movement in Venezuela. This sends a very clear message about the risks of transnational repression.”
Colombian authorities responded quickly. The Ombudsman’s Office condemned the attack, urging the Prosecutor General’s Office to launch a thorough investigation and to provide urgent protection measures for the victims. In a statement, the office emphasized, “The Venezuelan people deserve to live in peace and democracy. While they are in Colombian territory, migrant and refugee persons must have the backing and support of the authorities to guarantee their rights.”
Pressure mounted from across the region. Nobel Peace Prize winner and Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado took to social media, denouncing the attack as a “serious aggression” and calling on the Colombian government to act swiftly. “We ask the Colombian authorities and the government of President Gustavo Petro to conduct a thorough, transparent, and urgent investigation to clarify the facts, identify those responsible, and ensure justice. Even more importantly, we request that protection for them and for the Venezuelans exiled in Colombia be guaranteed,” Machado stated.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro, facing a rising tide of concern, ordered the National Protection Unit (UNP) to expand security for activists from any country residing in Colombia. He also hinted at the possible involvement of organized crime, referencing intelligence about a meeting of "coordinated mafias" in Cucuta. “All Venezuelan citizens who wish to seek asylum in Colombia, regardless of their ideas, are welcome… They have expressed themselves freely, and this will continue. The UNP will expand the protection of human rights activists from any country in the world in Colombia. We know what the violent ones are seeking in this case. We know about the meeting in Cucuta of the coordinated mafias,” Petro said.
While the investigation into the attack’s perpetrators and motives continued, many in the Venezuelan diaspora and human rights community were left to grapple with the implications. Civil society leaders like Arles Pereda, president of the Colony of Venezuelans in Colombia (ColVenz), voiced longstanding fears that such violence was only a matter of time. “We've always been watching out for possible persecution against us. An attack like this was something we knew was coming for a while, that we knew could happen at any moment. Now it has in Bogota. We worry that we can all become a target,” Pereda told AP. In response, groups are now considering hiring bodyguards and exploring third-country escapes for those facing imminent threats.
Recent history has only heightened these anxieties. In 2024, dissident Venezuelan military officer Ronald Ojeda was kidnapped and killed in Chile—a crime Chilean authorities described as politically motivated and likely orchestrated by the Venezuelan prison gang Tren de Aragua. Former U.S. ambassador James Story noted to AP that the Maduro government has both the reach and the network to carry out attacks abroad, stating, “Everybody from the opposition who was living in Bogotá was concerned that they were either going to be potentially attacked by the Maduro regime, that they were under surveillance or some kind of nefarious activity would happen.”
As the diaspora community reeled, the broader geopolitical context grew only more fraught. Days before the Bogotá shooting, María Corina Machado was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize by a Norwegian parliamentary committee—a development that put Venezuela back in the global spotlight. On the very day of the attack, President Maduro abruptly announced the closure of Venezuela’s embassy in Oslo, offering little explanation. Meanwhile, tensions between the United States and Venezuela simmered, with the Trump administration reporting fatal strikes on boats allegedly carrying drugs from Venezuela, further complicating the international landscape.
For many Venezuelans in Colombia and across the region, the attack underscored a grim reality: the safety they sought abroad is far from guaranteed. Aid for exiles has dwindled as U.S. support wanes and Andean governments, grappling with resource constraints and social tensions, have grown less welcoming. As Laura Dib observed, “There is just so much that could have been done. I think this is a wake-up call.”
At the time of the shooting, Velásquez had not yet been granted international protection, despite seeking help from Colombia’s Ombudsman’s Office—a fact that many advocates say highlights the urgent need for stronger safeguards for those fleeing political persecution. The events in Bogotá have become a rallying cry for renewed vigilance and solidarity among civil society organizations, exiles, and their allies.
For now, as investigations continue and the victims recover, the attack stands as a stark reminder of the risks faced by those who dare to speak out against authoritarian regimes, even after crossing international borders. The future for Venezuelan activists in Colombia—and indeed, for the millions displaced by Venezuela’s ongoing crisis—remains uncertain, but their resolve to seek justice and protection endures.