"Without further explanation, the detention of Andrés Pastrana at the airport in Luanda, Angola, has been suspended. Other African leaders are currently going through the same process," reported Gustavo Gómez, director of the program '6AM Hoy por Hoy', on Caracol Radio, through social media and quoted by the news agency Efe.
Gómez added that he spoke with Pastrana, who confirmed "the facts and stated that it was the ineptitude of a government that tried to pressure participants in a democratic forum that is not well regarded by the Angolan authorities."
Hours earlier, Pastrana had sent an audio recording to the radio station in which he said he was being held hostage.
The former Conservative president explained on his X social media account that he was "detained at Luanda airport by the Angolan government, which is blocking the entry of a group of African politicians invited by the Brenthurst Foundation and the International Democratic Center (IDC-CDI)."
Speaking to Lusa, UNITA's deputy secretary general, Lázaro Kakunha, confirmed that 13 of the 17 guests invited to the conference who were due to come from abroad were being held back.
Sources from the Colombian Foreign Ministry confirmed to the Efe news agency that they were aware of the situation, adding that the consulate in Pretoria and the Embassy in South Africa, which also serve Angola, "are verifying what happened."
In addition to the former Colombian leader, Mozambican politician Venâncio Mondlane and other guests, including former Botswana president Ian Khama, were also held back, according to a UNITA source.
Alberto Quechinacho, Venâncio Mondlane's lawyer, said that the Mozambican politician "is not on the run", questioning the detention of Angolan immigration authorities and adding that he does not officially know his whereabouts.
Quechinacho said that some conflicting information has emerged, namely that Mondlane was no longer in Angolan territory, without official confirmation.
Asked whether Venâncio Mondlane, who is under an Identity and Residence Term, could leave Mozambique, the lawyer stressed that the Mozambican jurisdiction does not exercise authority over the Angolan jurisdiction.
The Attorney General's Office (PGR) of Mozambique applied the measure of identity and residence term to Venâncio Mondlane, in a process in which the politician is accused of inciting violence in post-election demonstrations, which prevents him from staying away from home for more than five days, and he must notify the authorities.
The conference, which is jointly organized by the Konrad Adenauer Foundation and the World Liberty Congress, is scheduled to take place in Benguela from Friday to Sunday.
Lusa contacted the Angolan Migration and Foreigners Service (SME) which promised to clarify the situation later.
