Foreign Minister Felipe Solá participated today in the meeting of Foreign Ministers of the International Contact Group (ICG), during which he stated that “we have to work on humanitarian access and on the possibility of using blocked funds to pay for the Covax so that Venezuelans have access to the COVID-19 vaccine.”
Solá reiterated Argentina’s commitment to finding peaceful and democratic solutions to the crisis affecting the Venezuelan people, and welcomed Chile and the Dominican Republic to the International Contact Group. They have now joined Argentina, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Uruguay, and the European Union.
During the debate on the final document to be released by the ICG, the Foreign Minister reaffirmed once again Argentina’s position. “The solution for Venezuela must come from the Venezuelans,” he stated.
“We condemn physical and financial embargos because they are counterproductive. On the one hand, they actually strengthen the authorities they seek to undermine and give them political and economic arguments to justify their excesses and cover their inadequacies, and at the same time they worsen the suffering of the Venezuelan people, whom they are trying to help,” stressed the Minister.
“We believe that the international community has the responsibility to help facilitate dialogue between the parties within a context of full respect for the constitutional mechanisms in force. But it is important to stress that the parties are the Government of Nicolás Maduro and the opposition. If we want to pave the way for dialogue we must recognize that there is a formed Government that has the State power. Expecting dialogue to take place between the international community and the opposition parties, while excluding the Government, will not lead anywhere,” he stated.
He then underscored that “we appreciate the work of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, and we support the idea of establishing a permanent office for the High Commissioner in Caracas to monitor the situation and help find appropriate solutions and for the Government to investigate and try those who commit human rights violations.”
The Foreign Minister was joined by the Deputy Foreign Minister, Pablo Tettamanti, the Chief of the Private Office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Guillermo Justo Chaves, and the Undersecretary for Issues of the Americas, Juan Carlos Valle Raleigh
The international meeting was attended by the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell; the Special Adviser of the European Union for Venezuela, Enrique Iglesias; the Director-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations, Paraskevi Michou; the Foreign Ministers of Chile, Andrés Allamand; Costa Rica, Rodolfo Solano Quirós; the Dominican Republic, Roberto Álvarez; Ecuador, Luis Gallegos Chiriboga; Panama, Alexandra Mouynes Brenes; Portugal, Augusto Santos Silva; Spain, Arancha González Laya; Uruguay, Francisco Bustillo Bonasso; and the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Stef Blok.
The meeting was also attended by the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Italy, Marina Sereni; the Secretary General of the Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs of France, François Delattre; the State Secretary of the Federal Foreign Office of Germany, Miguel Berger; the State Secretary for Foreign Affairs of Sweden, Robert Rydberg; and the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Department for International Development of the United Kingdom, Wendy Morton.
