Argentina suffers diplomatic defeat in front of the international community for its unexpected criticism of the political transition in Venezuela

Alberto Fernández has been isolated from the international community which pushes the democratic transition in Venezuela because of his particular way of interpreting the concept of intervention in the internal affairs of the countries. The President considers that no state should recommend the form of the electoral process in Venezuela, and this uncompromising position left him out of a diplomatic scene he had helped to build since his arrival at Casa Rosada.

Donald Trump – when he occupied the oval room – exploited the Lima group to explore the possibility of a brutal departure of Nicolás Maduro and his immediate replacement by Juan Guaidó, then leader of the Venezuelan opposition. It was the time of Mauricio Macri as President of Argentina.

Alberto Fernández rejected this hypothesis of conflict and from Balcarce 50 began to operate to reduce the power of the Lima Group and Guaidó. In the end, the Head of State effectively left the Lima Group and joined the International Contact Group (GIC), made up of the European Union, France, Germany, Italy, Sweden, United Kingdom, Spain, Portugal and Uruguay, among other countries.

President’s diplomatic decision approved by Francisco and Joseph Biden, anxious to find an institutional solution to the political and economic crisis caused by the populist regime of Maduro.

In this context, The International Contact Group succeeded in getting representatives of Maduro and the Venezuelan opposition to agree to open a negotiating table in Mexico City. This negotiation will begin today – until September 6 – and Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) and the Kingdom of Norway were key players.

A few hours before the start of negotiations, The International Contact Group (ICG) has started drafting an official statement to support this example of dialogue unprecedented in recent Venezuelan history. The draft of five paragraphs has reached the Chancellery, and from that point on, the government’s diplomatic perspective darkened to the surprise and misunderstanding of the GIC representatives. who considered Alberto Fernández as an unequivocal ally.

Felipe Sola interpreted that a paragraph of the ICG draft communiqué violated the president’s point of view on the principle of non-intervention in the internal affairs of countries.

This paragraph – which is ultimately found in the final text – says: “The only way out of the crisis Venezuela is going through is political negotiation andthe organization of credible, free and transparent elections in accordance with the constitutional and legal provisions of Venezuela ”.

The Foreign Minister, supported by Alberto Fernández, rejected this paragraph. Solá alleged that he opened the door to Venezuela’s internal affairs intervention, and withdrew Argentina’s signature from the approved official statement for Germany, Chile, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Spain, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Panama, Portugal, the Dominican Republic, Sweden, the European Union and Uruguay.

“This inclusive dialogue process can lay the foundations for a consensual solution to the Venezuelan crisis», Declared the members of the Group to express his support for a diplomatic approach that the President has endorsed since his arrival in Balcarce 50.

Argentina’s unexpected stance on the democratic transition process in Venezuela It reveals the contradictions that Alberto Fernández has in his foreign policy agenda.

The president displays a maximalist position on the principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of countries, and forgets – or ignores – that he performed in public events that might contradict his own interpretation of this key right in international relations.

From their point of view, Alberto Fernández is said to have intervened in the following internal affairs of other countries:

1. He congratulated Joseph Biden as the winner of the US election while the legal appeals filed by Donald Trump were still pending.

2. Recognized Pedro Castillo as President of Peru while the electoral council had not yet been published.

3. He supported Luis Arce as Bolivia’s presidential candidate when the elections were in nine days.

4. He supported Andrés Arauz as candidate for the presidency of Ecuador before the ballot won by Guillermo Lasso.

Alberto Fernández now appears distant from the International Contact Group, despite his previous efforts to ensure democratic transition in Venezuela. A geopolitical paradox consumed in Mexico City during his visit to Puerto Tirol in the Chaco.

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