Sebastián Piñera invited to "join forces" between the Lima group and the contact group on Venezuela

The Chilean President, Sebastián Piñera, suggested Monday to the Lima group to seek greater unity with the contact group on Venezuela under the auspices of the European Union, while rejecting the option of reopening the dialogue between the opposition and the Nicolás Maduro regime.

"I think that it is very important to seek to expand this group and to seek more coordination and more unity with the contact group. If there are two groups that have the same objectives, the same principles, join forces"Piñera said at a breakfast with the foreign ministers and authorities of the Lima group countries, which will meet in Santiago on Monday.

The contact group, in which Spain and seven other EU Member States participate, in addition to Uruguay, Costa Rica, Ecuador and Bolivia, is already met at ministerial level in Montevideo and Quito and sent technical missions to Caracas to discuss with all parties involved in the Venezuelan political crisis.

The Chilean President recalled that there are "other groups" who are looking for "the path of dialogue", an option that, in his opinion, has been exercised in Venezuela for too long without getting any results. "Reopening the dialogue with a dictator, is saving time and postponing the case the restoration of freedom, democracy and human rights in Venezuela, "he warned.

The Mechanism of Montevideo, which was activated last February by Mexico, Uruguay and Caricom, and to which Bolivia subsequently acceded, seeks precisely a solution to the Venezuelan crisis through dialogue and negotiation.

Piñera praised the work and pressure exerted by the Lima group, made up of a dozen Latin American countries, but felt that "additional measures" needed to be taken to achieve tangible results .

"Our suggestion is to do everything possible to get humanitarian aid because it is a question, literally, of life and death for many people in Venezuela," he said.

He also called for strengthening international pressure at the diplomatic, economic and political levels so that every day is more difficult "for the dictatorship to remain in power".

"I am convinced that the dictator's era is numbered and that there are not many." Many factors play in this direction, first and foremost the strong will of the Venezuelan people. to recover its democracy and growing international solidarity, "he added. .

"It is necessary that the Lima group move into a new phase and redouble their efforts to bring new international actors to join the pressure against the dictatorship," said Chilean Foreign Minister Roberto Ampuero, as a prelude to the meeting.

Monday's meeting of the Lima group will have the participation of the foreign ministers of the ArgentinaJorge Faurie BrazilErnesto Araújo; CanadaChristya Freeland; ChileRoberto Ampuero; ColombiaCarlos Holmes Trujillo; Costa RicaManuel Ventura Peru, Néstor Popolizio.

Honduras and Panama will be represented by their Deputy Ministers of Foreign Affairs and by Ecuador, Guatemala, Guyana, Paraguay and Saint Lucia, by ambbadadors and other authorities.

He will also be at the meeting Julio Borges, diplomatic representative before the Lima group of Juan Guaidó, president of the Venezuelan Parliament and recognized by half a hundred countries as president.

The Lima group was created in August 2017 at the initiative of Peru to contribute to the resolution of the Venezuelan crisis.

(With information from EFE and AFP)