Argentina withdraws from Lima Group and condemns blockade of Venezuela

The Argentine government rejected the isolation policies promoted by the Lima Group against Venezuela and proposed to promote an inclusive dialog to help the country solve its internal conflicts

March 25, 2021 by Peoples Dispatch
The government of President Alberto Fernández withdrew from the Lima Group on March 24. Photo: Alberto Fernández/Twitter

Yesterday, on March 24, Argentina officially withdrew from the Lima Group. The progressive government of President Alberto Fernández stated that the participation of a sector of the Venezuelan opposition as a member of the organization had led to the adoption of positions that the government does not support.

In a statement, the Argentine Foreign Affairs Ministry rejected the isolation policies promoted by the group against Venezuela and said that “the best way to help Venezuelans is to facilitate an inclusive dialog that does not favor any particular sector, but achieves elections accepted by the majority with international control.”

The Argentine government also criticized the unilateral coercive measures imposed by the US on Venezuela. The statement highlighted that “in a context in which the pandemic has wreaked havoc in the region, the sanctions and blockades imposed on Venezuela and its authorities, as well as the destabilization attempts that occurred in 2020, have only aggravated the situation of its population, in particular, of its most vulnerable sectors.”

The country affirmed that it “will continue to uphold its commitment to regional stability, and will seek peaceful, democratic solutions that respect the sovereignty and internal affairs of each State.”

The Lima Group is a bloc of the right-wing governments in Latin America and has the support of the United States, the Organization of American States (OAS) and the European Union (EU). It was founded in August 2017 in Peru’s capital, Lima, with the objective to intensify diplomatic measures against the constitutional government of President Nicolás Maduro and force his resignation.

Under the rule of the former conservative president Mauricio Macri, Argentina allied with the group and aligned the country’s foreign policy with the US interests to increase regional pressure on the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. The group has expressed its support for the US’ unilateral coercive measures against Venezuela, for the violent destabilizing actions against the country, the illegal self-proclamation of the opposition politician Juan Guaidó as the interim president, among other interferences.