“That’s the case of Nicolas Maduro, who has become a strong friend of Iran,” Duque said Tuesday, referring to Venezuela’s socialist president.

“It’s also the case of [Daniel] Ortega in Nicaragua,” Duque continued, referring to the Nicaraguan president.

Maduro hosted Iran’s foreign minister in Caracas in February, and signed a 20-year agreement on oil, military, and economic cooperation during a trip to Tehran last June.

Maduro and his predecessor, Hugo Chávez, have widely been regarded as antisemitic, in part for their close relations with Iran, vocal criticism of Israel, and rough treatment of Venezuela’s Jewish population.

Ortega hosted Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian in February, when the long-serving Nicaraguan president defended Tehran’s right to nuclear weapons.

Duque, who lost to leftist former rebel Gustavo Petro in 2022, spoke Tuesday with The Times of Israel at his hotel in Jerusalem. He was in the country meeting with Israeli leaders and entrepreneurs as part of a delegation with the Washington-based Woodrow Wilson Center, where he is now a distinguished fellow.

Duque advanced ties with Israel throughout his four-year term, visiting Israel in 2021 to open a trade and innovation office in Jerusalem, a move that was seen as deepening already close ties between Israel and a key ally in South America.

He accused his successor’s administration, the first left-wing presidency in the country’s history, of “trying to strengthen their connections with Iran.”

“That, in my opinion, is something that is worrying,” he said.

An Iranian delegation led by the deputy foreign minister was in Bogota in February.

Source: IMFAT