During his intervention at the OAS as head of the Argentine Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in the context of the Meeting of Consultation of Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Jorge Faurie expressed "deep concern" about the situation in Venezuela, "but, most of all, about the situation of the Venezuelan people."
"We are confronted with a humanitarian crisis. Not only has democracy been eroded in Venezuela, but there are also political prisoners and a social state of emergency due to food and medicine shortages," he explained.
"Choosing to continue calling for a National Constituent Assembly will not contribute to resolving the current situation in Venezuela," stated Foreign Minister Faurie last night, at the meeting with his counterparts from the continent. "People are looking to us as an organization, as an institution; we must be capable of giving them an answer," he added.
The Foreign Minister underscored that "Argentina is a country convinced that the solution must come from the Venezuelans", but highlighted that "all of the region's countries are here because we have a long history" with Venezuela. "One way or another, we are indebted to the Venezuelan people," he stated.
"When I was a young Foreign Service trainee, a Venezuelan came to Argentina to say openly to all Argentines that we were not living in a democracy, that people could not be imprisoned for their political views, that it was inadmissible to incarcerate and torture people, and that the situation in Argentina at the time was unacceptable," the Foreign Minister recalled, in reference to the visit to Argentina in 1979 by Andrés Aguilar, then president of the ICHR and former Chief Justice of the Venezuelan Supreme Court. "And that was no interference, nor is our concern over the situation in Venezuela interference, but rather the defence of democracy in that country," he assured.
"This Organization, on the basis of its Charter, works for the defence of democracy as an exercise in representation which provides for the separation of powers and which advocates respect for human rights and civil liberties, the proper functioning of all branches of government, and that includes the National Assembly of Venezuela, which must be recognized as such. We are confronted with a crisis which is also humanitarian in nature," he asserted.
The head of Argentine diplomacy stated that: "The efforts undertaken by most of us here today have sought to find a solution to help Venezuelans find a way."
The Argentine Foreign Minister pleaded for a "continuation of these efforts", in order to achieve a full-fledged Venezuelan democracy and full respect for the rights of all Venezuelans. He regretted that "the OAS, as an organization, has been unable to provide a solution," given the failure to secure the required majority to adopt the resolution submitted at the Assembly.
"I must join in the call issued by several Delegations to keep this Session open in order to continue this work, since we cannot ignore the need to achieve a fully functioning democracy and guarantee the utmost respect for the rights of all Venezuelans."
Faurie urged us to continue with "our best efforts" to reach a consensus that "allows us to support Venezuela, which has also helped to defend democracy in our own past history."
Press release No. 246/17
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