A small break in the siege against Venezuela | E …

The meeting of the Lima group held in the Colombian capital rejected the use of violence to resolve the conflict triggered by the opposition parties in Venezuela and insisted on the diplomatic solution for to reach new elections although the previous exit of the constitutional president Nicolás Maduro. In principle, this result could be considered as good news for peace in Venezuela in particular and for Latin America in general. However, statements made before the meeting of US Vice President Mike Pence, who attended the Bogotá Conclave, suggest that the US strategy is to create a war scenario and to participate in a possible conflict. binational between Colombia and Colombia. and Venezuela.

Pence was clear when he stated, in the midst of the deliberations of the Lima Group, that "Colombia is our most important partner in the region and that any threat to its sovereignty or security will be confronted with the determination of United States". This sentence comes hours after the announcement by President Maduro of the breakdown of relations with Colombia.

The North American Vice President's statement is an example of what Donald Trump's strategy could be like before the resistance of Latin American countries to a military adventure with hard-to-calculate consequences, at least for these governments. . The relationship between the United States and Colombia is more than close and relations already surpbad the carnal climate, where the presence of North American armed forces troops is usual and comes from the time of the so-called fight against the traffic drug and guerrilla organizations.

In this context, and on the basis of the Pence Declaration, the US Government will depart with the aim of letting the Lima Group countries engage in diplomatic disputes and in international and multilateral fora, while And Colombia, with Iván Duque at the helm, they focus on war production. Sunday's dawn clash, when a group of about 60 paramilitaries attacked unsuccessfully the Bolivarian National Guard (GNB) position, could well be seen as a test of the search for give Colombia a reason to feel attacked. On this occasion, the GNB troops repulsed the attack and did not go to Colombian territory located only 20 meters away.

Colombia usually enters the territory of other countries. The clearest example is the attack they carried out, with the help of the United States, against the FARC encampment in a jungle area near the town of Santa Rosa de Sucumbíos in Ecuador. The camp was one kilometer from the Colombian border. On this occasion, in March 2008, several guerrillas were killed in the attack, including one of the FARC leaders, Raúl Reyes, whose body was the only one to have been withdrawn by the Colombian special forces. This fact generated a strong diplomatic ban between the governments of the time, Alvaro Uribe and Rafael Correa. At that time, the president of Ecuador accused the United States of providing logistical support from the base they owned in Manta, Ecuador.

After reading the document approved by the Lima group member countries, Colombian Foreign Minister Carlos Holmes Trujillo told reporters that he had "serious and credible" information about the threats made against MP Juan Guaidó and his family. That is why he said that "we will hold the Maduro usurper responsible for any violent action against Guaidó, which would constitute a new crime and create an international situation that would require him to act collectively by appealing to all legal and political mechanisms ". What is unclear is what will be Guaidó's geographical destination since he left Venezuela illegally in Venezuela while justice prevented him from leaving Venezuela.

The differences that arose during the meeting in Bogota were expressed by the Peruvian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Néstor Popolizio, who, since his arrival in the Colombian capital, was inclined to a diplomatic and negotiated exit from the Venezuelan crisis. While supporting Guaidó has always expressed the position of his country to reject any violent departure. One could say that this is what pushed the United States to replace the position of war and use Colombia as a pretext to advance a possible invasion.

The result of the meeting generates a pause in the confrontation against the constitutional government of Maduro but only that. It was the time between a lightning bolt and a thunderbolt, warned last January Elliot Abrams, the special accusation against Venezuela, officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Venezuela .

The text of the Lima group document is as follows:

1. Condemn the deliberate acts of Nicolás Maduro's illegitimate regime which, without taking into account the suffering of the population or the insistent demands of the international community, prevented on 23 February the entry of the necessities and the necessities of life. International badistance, through acts of violent repression that caused multiple injuries and deaths on the border between Colombia and Brazil, all of which aggravated the risk of recovering the life, dignity and integrity of Venezuelans.

2. Express their solidarity with the Venezuelan people and recognize their courage in the struggle for the restoration of democracy, and reiterate the commitment of the Lima Group to continue to actively support it in this effort

3. To denounce to the international community the illegitimate regime of Nicolás Maduro for deliberately subjecting Venezuelans, and in particular the most vulnerable populations, to a systematic deprivation of food and medicine, as well as to the Access to basic services to ensure their permanence in power.

4. express their gratitude for the humanitarian badistance provided to Venezuela and condemn the indiscriminate violence carried out by the security forces and armed groups in the service of Nicolás Maduro's illegitimate regime to impede their distribution and prevent the full exercise of their rights . rights and freedoms of Venezuelans. As a result, they will collaborate to bring those responsible to justice.

5. Decide to request the International Criminal Court to take into account the grave humanitarian situation in Venezuela, the criminal violence perpetrated by Nicolás Maduro's regime against the civilian population and the denial of access to international badistance , which constitutes a crime of humanity, as part of the proceedings it is pursuing under the application submitted by Argentina, Canada, Colombia, Chile, Paraguay and Peru on September 27, 2018, then approved by Costa Rica and France and welcomed by Germany.

6. Decide to promote the appointment by the United Nations Human Rights Council of an independent expert or investigating commission on the situation in Venezuela, in response to the deep concern about "serious human rights violations in the country". context of political, economic, social and humanitarian crisis "in this country, expressed in resolution A / HRC / RES / 39/1 of 26 September 2018 entitled" Promotion and protection of human rights in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela " and reiterated their appeal to the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to react swiftly to the situation in that country before the submission of her comprehensive report to the forty-first session of the United Nations. Human Rights Council.

7. Expresses the irreversibility of their commitment to democratic transition and institutional, economic and social reconstruction in Venezuela, underlining that the permanence of Nicolás Maduro and his illegitimate regime in power represents an unprecedented threat to security, peace, freedom and prosperity throughout the region, which is why they are encouraging debate on the country's current situation in the United Nations Security Council and will continue to discuss it within the Organization of American States. . Likewise, they will advance direct negotiations with the Secretary-General of the United Nations so that, in accordance with their powers, they can promote the activation of the United Nations system in relation to what is happening in the United Nations system. Venezuela.

8. Express their satisfaction at the growing number of States that have recognized the constitutional authority of the National Assembly and its Chairman-in-Office, Juan Guaidó, and invite these States and the international community in its together to badociate with the commitment of the Lima Group the democratic transition and the immediate provision of humanitarian aid, in accordance with the Ottawa Declaration for Venezuela. In this regard, they decide to intensify the efforts of the Lima Group at the international level, establishing all necessary contacts and coordination, including special missions, to publicize the efforts and actions that the Group has taken. undertaken to help restore democracy and democracy. the constitutional order in Venezuela.

9. decided to maintain permanent co-ordination with the representatives of the Government of President-in-Office Juan Guaidó, both in their bilateral relations and in the international organizations to which they belong and in the multilateral fora in which they participate, with a view to the return of democracy economic reconstruction and immediate attention to the humanitarian crisis. As such, they will encourage their recognition within multilateral international organizations and coordination mechanisms, as legitimate representatives of Venezuela.

10. Decides to advance in the recognition of the representatives of the President in charge, Juan Guaidó, in accordance with their internal procedures.

11. reiterate their appeal to all members of the national armed forces to recognize the Commander-in-Chief, Juan Guaidó, and to urge them, faithful to their constitutional mandate, to be at the exclusive service of the nation and not the one A person, stops serving instruments of the illegitimate regime of Nicolás Maduro for the oppression of the Venezuelan people and the systematic violation of his fundamental rights.

12. Call on members of the Venezuelan judiciary and judiciary, including those who have been irregularly designated as such, to recognize the legitimate authority of the National Assembly and Acting President Juan Guaidó, and to respect the full exercise of their rights; constitutional powers, to facilitate the democratic transition and restoration of the rule of law in Venezuela.

13. They appeal to those nations that still maintain cooperative ties with Nicolás Maduro's illegitimate regime in order to facilitate the search for solutions paving the way for the process of democratic transition and the convening of free and fair elections, transparent and credible.

14. They offer their firm support to the agreement for the promotion of the country bailout, adopted by the National Assembly on 29 January. In this regard, they express their willingness to convene an international conference and request the Inter-American Development Bank to support the legitimate authorities of Venezuela in implementing the institutional and economic reforms they deem necessary to revive the economy and offer opportunities. of social progress for all Venezuelans.

15. Reaffirm the right of all Venezuelans to live in democracy and freedom and, therefore, reiterate their support for the holding of free and fair elections, open to the participation of all political forces, with support and an international observation, organized by a neutral and legitimately constituted electoral authority. For the holding of these new democratic elections, they demand the immediate departure of Nicolás Maduro and the cessation of the usurpation, in the respect of the constitutional powers of the National Assembly and the president in charge, Juan Guaidó.

17. Agrees to reaffirm and follow the measures previously adopted by the Lima Group; offer all its support to the design and implementation of the electoral calendar established by the National Assembly and the President in charge, Juan Guaidó; and to urge the international community to respond to the urgent need to allow the entry of humanitarian aid to the Venezuelan people.

18. They welcome the offer of the Government of the Republic of Chile to host the next meeting of the Lima Group at a date to be determined.