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Lima Group Declaration

Tuesday, 30 April 2019
Information for the Press N°: 
166/19

The governments of Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Panama, Paraguay, Peru and Venezuela, members of the Lima Group:

1) Express their full support for the popular and constitutional process undertaken by the Venezuelan people, under the leadership of Interim President Juan Guaidó, to restore democracy in Venezuela; and they reject the viewing of such process as a coup d'état.

2) Demand full respect for the life, integrity and freedom of all Venezuelans, especially of the members of the Venezuelan National Assembly and the Venezuelan democratic political forces, as well as the immediate release of political prisoners.

3) Reiterate their call on the National Armed Forces of Venezuela to recognize Interim President Juan Guaidó as their Commander-in-Chief, and urge them to remain faithful to their constitutional mandate to serve the Nation and not just one person, and, thus, to stop serving as instruments of Nicolás Maduro's illegitimate regime for the oppression of the Venezuelan people and the systematic violation of their human rights.

4) Demand that Nicolás Maduro cease his usurpation, therefore allowing the beginning of the democratic transition, constitutional normalization, and the economic and social reconstruction of Venezuela.

5) Underscore the direct responsibility of Nicolás Maduro and the armed forces and intelligence groups serving his illegitimate regime for the indiscriminate violence used to repress the process of democratic transition and the restoration of the rule of law.

6) Urge the international community to closely follow the evolution of events and to offer its political and diplomatic support for the legitimate aspirations of the Venezuelan people to live in democracy and freedom again, free from the oppression of the illegitimate and dictatorial regime of Nicolás Maduro.

7) Declare themselves permanently in session and decide to meet in person on Friday, May 3, in the city of Lima, Peru.