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The Venezuelan businessman who gained asylum in Colombia to avoid rebellion charges for briefly replacing President Hugo Chavez in an April coup said Friday that he left his country to escape a biased trial and to protect his life.
In his first public statement since he flew to Colombia Wednesday, Carmona, 61, thanked the Colombian government for granting his asylum request in a decision also accepted by Venezuela. He is expected to travel on to a third country.
“I leave my country with the pain of going into exile as someone who is politically persecuted,” he said in letter sent from Colombia to Venezuelan media.
