On Monday, Chancellor Manuel Ventura traveled to Ottawa, Canada for a Lima Group meeting to discuss the crisis in Venezuela.
With his counterparts from Brazil, Colombia, Argentina, Chile, Honduras, Guatemala, Peru, Guyana, Panama, Paraguay and Saint Lucia, the Costa Rican minister will discuss the steps to follow to support Juan Guaidó, that nation’s interim president.
During the day, different meetings will have the purpose of establishing agreements and announcements to also support the Venezuelan people involved in the humanitarian crisis. The Lima Group discussion will include topics such as economic assistance and recovery, as well as the situation of refugees.
A meeting is also expected with European representatives who have backed President Guaidó and a political statement on the Venezuelan situation and the measures that can be adopted in that country, as well as declarations of the economic measures that the member countries will take.
While the foreign ministers of the Lima Group meet in Ottawa seeking to strengthen Guaidó, the Uruguayan government announced that on February 5th it will host a meeting with the European Union (EU) and the International Group Contact with Venezuela, in Montevideo.
On January 31st, the EU decided to take forward the creation of this contact group, with the aim of promoting the conditions for a “political and peaceful” dialogue, according to the joint communiqué issued by the hosts of the meeting.
The contact group will consist of eight EU countries: Germany, Spain, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, the United Kingdom and Sweden, and Latin Americans Bolivia, Costa Rica, Ecuador and Mexico, which join Uruguay.
The deadline France and other European countries gave Maduro to call elections, under the threat of recognizing Guaidó as legitimate president of Venezuela, ended last Sunday.