Argentina is the only Contact Group country not to have signed the repudiation of the expulsion of the European Union’s ambassador to Venezuela

The so-called countries International Contact Group for Venezuela, sponsored by the European Union (EU), including Spain, on Thursday rejected the decision of the Venezuelan regime to expel the ambassador of the 27 of the Latin American country and considers it contrary to dialogue.

“The following members of the International Contact Group on Venezuela, Chile, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, European Union, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Panama, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and Uruguay they reject the Venezuelan regime’s decision to declare the EU ambassador persona non grata, ”they said in a joint statement. The text does not mention Argentina.

They added that this declaration and the subsequent expulsion of the diplomat from the country is “contrary to the dialogue and respect that should prevail in international relations, Y this will only contribute to greater international isolation of Venezuela “.

“We ask that situations of this nature do not happen again and that the spirit of dialogue and collaboration between the Venezuelan regime and the international community be maintained, ”they stressed.

The group declared that “the only way out of the Venezuelan crisis is through the resumption of political negotiations and the reestablishment of dialogue between the parties and the organization of credible and transparent elections, in accordance with the Constitution and the laws of Venezuela. “.

The last ambassador of the European Union in Caracas, Isabel Brilhante Pedrosa, left Venezuela on Tuesday, three days after the deadline given by the Nicolás Maduro regime to leave the country and appointed her persona non grata in response to community bloc sanctions against 19 expired Venezuelans.

Brilhante Pedrosa’s expulsion was ordered by Maduro on February 24.

At first, he gave him 72 hours to leave Venezuela, extended until Tuesday, at the diplomat’s request due to the lack of flights.

In response to the expulsion of your ambassador, Brussels also declared the head of the Venezuelan mission to the EU, Claudia Salerno, persona non grata.

However, the EU decision does not imply the forced departure of the Venezuelan diplomat from EU territory as Salerno is also the ambassador to Belgium and Luxembourg.

For its part, Biden administration He reported that The United States supports collaborative efforts with the Contact Group, the European Union, the Lima Group, and the OAS. increase multilateral pressure and thus achieve a peaceful and democratic transition in Venezuela.

Biden extended the term of the executive order that qualifies Maduro’s regime as “an extraordinary threat to national security.”

The President of the United States extended the duration of the national emergency decree with regard to Venezuela, considering that the situation in the Caribbean country under the dictatorship of Nicolás Maduro “continues to pose an unusual and extraordinary threat to U.S. national security and foreign policy“.

In a letter to the US Congress, Biden explained the extension of the executive order signed on March 8, 2015 by then-President Barack Obama. “Section 202 (d) of the National Emergencies Act (50 USC 1622 (d)) provides for the automatic termination of a national emergency unless, within 90 days of the anniversary date of its declaration, the President issues in the Federal Register and give Congress a notice that the emergency will continue in effect after the anniversary date, ”he said.

“In accordance with this provision, I have sent to the Federal Register for publication the attached notice in which It is declared that the national emergency declared in Decree 13692 of March 8, 2015, regarding the situation in Venezuela, will continue in force beyond March 8, 2021.″ Continuation of the text.

And Biden argued for the decision: “The situation in Venezuela continues to pose an unusual and extraordinary threat to US national security and foreign policy.. Therefore, I determined that it is necessary to continue the national emergency declared in Decree 13692 concerning the situation in Venezuela ”.

On the other hand, the head of American diplomacy, Antony blink, he communicated for the first time on Tuesday with the interim president of Venezuela, Juan Guaidó.

“Secretary Blinken stresses the importance of returning to democracy in Venezuela through free and fair elections,” the State Department said in a statement.

“Secretary Blinken and Acting President Guaidó discussed urgent humanitarian needs in Venezuela, which forced nearly 5.5 million Venezuelans to flee Venezuela, and Secretary Blinken applauded the efforts to find solutions to alleviate their suffering and pledged the continued support of the United States, ”concluded the communicated.

It was the first formal communication between Guaidó and Blinken, who had already argued that the Joe Biden administration would continue to recognize him as a legitimate interlocutor to the detriment of Nicolás Maduro, whom he called a “brutal dictator”.

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