On 28 August 2018, Colombian president Iván Duque announced that foreign minister Carlos Holmes had officially notified Unasur of their intention to leave the bloc, effective in 6 months, denouncing it as an institution created by Hugo Chávez to sideline existing international treaties and referring to it as an accomplice to what they referred to as the dictatorship in Venezuela.[11][12] Ecuador announced its withdrawal on 13 March 2019.[13]