EU-backed group to discuss Venezuela

European and Latin American leaders were due to gather in the Uruguayan capital of Montevideo to discuss a plan to solve the deepening crisis in Venezuela, but will steer clear of direct intervention.

European and Latin American leaders were due to gather on Thursday in the Uruguayan capital of Montevideo to discuss a plan to solve the deepening crisis in Venezuela, but will steer clear of direct intervention.

The EU-backed group, known as the International Contact Group on Venezuela, will hold its inaugural meeting on Thursday, laying out a more hands-off approach that is at odds with calls by the US and Latin American powers for more intervention.

The gathering comes on the heels of a separate meeting of the harder-line Lima Group in Canada, which called for international action against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro to pressure him to step down.

Venezuela’s collapse under Maduro, with the country plunged into poverty and driving about 3-million people to flee, has forced nations to take a stance, particularly after opposition leader Juan Guaido declared himself president in January.

Major EU nations have joined the US, Canada and a group of Latin American countries in recognising Guaido as the rightful interim leader. But others remain wary about direct involvement — including participants at the meeting of the International Contact Group.

On the eve of the meeting, Mexico, Uruguay and Caribbean countries presented a plan for Venezuela, titled the “Montevideo Mechanism”.

“This is based on good faith, where we don’t intervene unless with dialogue, negotiation, communication and a willingness to contribute,” Mexico’s foreign minister, Marcelo Ebrard, said.

Mexico was once an outspoken critic of Maduro, but ties with Venezuela have warmed under leftist President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who invited Maduro to his inauguration in January.

Maduro, who retains control over the state, denounces Guaido as a US puppet who is seeking to foment a coup against him. Maduro is supported by China and Russia, while Slovakia and Italy have defied co-ordinated EU actions.

Behind the International Contact Group are the EU and a number of member states including France, Germany, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and the UK. Latin American members include Bolivia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Mexico and Uruguay.

THE INTERNATIONAL CONTACT GROUP HAS ADOPTED A HANDSOFF APPROACH TO SOLVING VENEZUELA’S COLLAPSE