Caribbean claim Almagro | For recognizing …

The Caribbean Community (Caricom) members of the Organization of American States (OAS) have criticized Luis Almagro, the organization's secretary general, for supporting the interim president of Venezuela, appointed by Parliament , Juan Guaidó, without consulting them. .

"We are writing to express our disapproval and grave concern about your position as Secretary-General in recognizing the President of the National Assembly of Venezuela, Juan Guaidó, as President of the interim ", indicates a letter sent by the Caricom to Almagro and revealed today. "We consider that this action is inappropriate on their part because they do not have the authorization of the OAS member states," the document added, which obliges Almagro to "publicly clarify that it is did not speak on behalf of all Member States "of the Pan American Corps.

The statement follows a meeting last Thursday between heads of government and foreign ministers of 12 of the 15 Caricom member countries. The full-fledged partners of the block are Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, Barbados, St. Kitts- and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Montserrat and Trinidad and Tobago. The top 10 is also part of Petrocaribe, the alliance created in 2005 by Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez at the time, so that its members could buy Venezuelan oil on preferential terms of price and financing. With the exception of Montserrat, which is an overseas territory of the United Kingdom, Caricom contributes to 14 of the 34 full members of the OAS.

At the special meeting of the Permanent Council of the OAS held in late January to badyze the crisis in Venezuela, there was no consensus to recognize Guaidó despite the insistence of United States and 15 other countries, including Argentina. More than half of the members rejected this statement. Mexico and Uruguay, for example, declared themselves neutral before the Venezuelan conflict and offered to mediate a process of dialogue.

Meanwhile, the countries of the so-called Grupo de Lima will meet in Canada "to discuss support for Juan Guaidó, interim president of Venezuela, and explore ways in which the international community can further support the people of Venezuela" .

Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland has justified the call of the group that led the international community's opposition to President Nicolás Maduro because "this crisis is a huge security, humanitarian and economic problem. for the continent ". Freeland compared the situation with what happened in Syria.

"There are already countries like Colombia or Brazil that have hosted a large number of Venezuelan refugees, and some of the stories of these refugees, including unaccompanied minors in terrible conditions, are shocking," said Freeland. "We have seen in Syria the way in which a refugee crisis can have broader and destabilizing effects, and it is important that we also focus on that," said the Canadian minister.

Although Canada has not clarified who will attend the emergency meeting, the Foreign Ministers of the founding nations of the Lima Group, originally composed of Mexico, the United States of America, and the United States. Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia and Costa Rica should attend. , Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Panama, Paraguay, Peru and Saint Lucia. Representatives of the United States, Uruguay, the European Union and the Organization of American States (OAS), as well as the Venezuelan opposition, should also attend the meeting. meeting as observers.