Colombian Foreign Minister Luis Gilberto Murillo said that Presidents Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Gustavo Petro of Colombia and Andrés Manuel López Obrador of Mexico are expected to talk with Nicolás Maduro this Wednesday (4) to find “solutions” to the Venezuelan political crisis.
“President Petro led a call for a meeting to probably be held tomorrow between the three presidents and Nicolás Maduro to express their positions, to have a dialogue within diplomatic confidentiality to find solutions and to determine their positions,” said the Colombian Minister of Foreign Affairs.
According to Murillo, the presidents of Brazil, Mexico and Colombia “did not want to limit the possibility of mediation, of facilitation, because it requires some countries to play that role”, since the events in Venezuela have repercussions in their country and in the region.
The Colombian foreign minister also stressed that the three governments are taking care to guarantee Venezuela’s “sovereignty and autonomy.” “The solutions must be found by the Venezuelans,” he added.
Itamaraty has not yet confirmed the meeting between the presidents.
This Tuesday (3), after demonstrations from different Latin American countries, the United States, the European Union, the United Nations (UN) and the general secretariat of the Organization of American States (OAS), the governments of Brazil and Colombia finally published a joint note, in which they express “deep concern” about the arrest warrant issued against opposition candidate Edmundo González.
The two countries stated that the judicial measure “seriously affects” the commitments assumed by the Venezuelan government within the framework of the Barbados Agreements to strengthen democracy, and “hinders” the search for a peaceful solution, based on dialogue, between the main political forces in the country.
“It is necessary to move forward with solutions that will allow political peace in Venezuela. There have been dialogues not only with the Venezuelan government, but also with the different political expressions of opposition and, in this sense, the presidents are in dialogue and considered it necessary to express their position in light of what happened with the arrest warrant for Edmundo González,” said the Colombian foreign minister after the joint statement was released.
On Monday (2), a first instance court in Venezuela for cases linked to “crimes associated with terrorism” issued, at the request of the Public Prosecutor’s Office, an arrest warrant against González who missed three summonses to give testimony.
He is being investigated for the alleged crimes of usurpation of functions, falsification of public documents, instigation to disobey the law, association to commit a crime and formation of a gang, due to the publication of a website on which the opposition published the electoral minutes with disaggregated results of the vote on July 28.
Without presenting any of the records delivered by its inspectors, Chavismo claims that the results released by the opposition, which give González the victory with 67% of the votes, are false. The Public Prosecutor’s Office claims that there was a “usurpation of powers” of the electoral power with the publication of the website.
The opponent denies all accusations and claims that the Attorney General of the Public Ministry, Tarek William Saab, acts as a “political accuser” and does not guarantee the independence of the process.
Election in Venezuela had electronic ballot box and printed vote; understand
This content was originally published in Lula, Petro and Obrador should talk to Maduro this Wednesday about the crisis in Venezuela on the CNN Brasil website.
Source: CNN Brasil
Bruce Belcher is a seasoned author with over 5 years of experience in world news. He writes for online news websites and provides in-depth analysis on the world stock market. Bruce is known for his insightful perspectives and commitment to keeping the public informed.
