Europe, Latin America to meet on Venezuela crisis

MONTEVIDEO: An international meeting to negotiate a solution to the Venezuelan crisis opened here yesterday as President Nicolas Maduro and opposition leader Juan Guaido sparred over allowing humanitarian aid into the crisis-wracked country.

The European Union, eight other European countries and five Latin American nations met here with the goal of creating conditions for a peaceful political process, according to a European diplomatic source.

The initiative, originally launched by Mexico and Uruguay as a “neutral countries” conference on Venezuela, has evolved into a meeting of a “Contact Group” launched by EU last month and joined by Costa Rica, Bolivia and Ecuador.

On Wednesday, Maduro — having rejected an EU ultimatum on organising snap presidential elections — welcomed the meeting and expressed support for “all steps and initiatives to facilitate dialogue”.

But Guaido, who on Jan 23 declared himself Venezuela’s interim president and is now recognised by 40 countries, has strongly rejected any talks with the government, dismissing it as a way for Maduro to buy time.

“The Venezuelan government ... will not lend itself to any kind of false dialogue,” he reiterated on Wednesday.

The same day, Guaido had warned the army of its responsibilities after soldiers blocked a key border bridge, sparking angry demands from the United States to allow desperately needed humanitarian aid to enter the country.

Venezuela’s army had to choose between “a dictatorship that does not have an iota of humanity, or to side with the constitution” from which he takes his legitimacy, Guaido said in an interview on Colombian radio.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Venezuela’s military was deliberately blocking the aid “under Maduro’s orders”. Washington has pledged US$20 million (RM81.4 million) in aid, while Canada has pledged US$40 million and the EU US$7.5 million.

Maduro, who is supported by Russia, China, Turkey, Cuba and Iran, has refused all humanitarian aid shipments to Venezuela, which he said would open the way to allow a US military invasion. The 56-year-old has repeatedly accused US of fomenting a coup.

He dismissed the need for aid on Wednesday as a “political show”.

“Imperialism does not help anyone in the world,” he told television network Russia Today.

But while tensions remained at a peak, participants in yesterday’s meeting intended to “find a way between” the positions of US President Donald Trump and Russia’s Vladimir Putin, Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan and others, an EU source said.

It is “not easy”, added the source, whose delegation would be led by EU diplomacy chief Federica Mogherini.