Brazilian Foreign Minister downplays summit on Venezuela in Uruguay: 'not useful'
Going against Brazilian diplomatic tradition and submitting to US guidelines, Brazilian Foreign Minister Ernesto Araújo said that the mediation initiative in the Venezuelan crisis led by the European Union and Uruguay "will only delay" the coup in Venezuela; according to him, seeking dialogue will only "give Nicolás Maduro and his group breathing room"; "We think that's not the way to go," said Ernesto, in Washington.
Sputnik Brazil's Foreign Minister, Ernesto Araújo, said on Thursday that the meeting held in Montevideo by the International Contact Group (ICG) for Venezuela, formed by the European Union (EU) and several Latin American countries, is neither a valid nor a useful initiative.
"The meeting in Montevideo, based on flawed premises, is not a valid initiative in my opinion," the foreign minister declared in Washington.
"We don't think that an initiative that is a very useful part of the playing field at the budget level between the legitimate government of Juan Guaidó and the dictatorship of Nicolás Maduro seems to us to be a good starting point," he added.
Araújo made the statements from the Brazilian embassy in the United States capital, at the end of an official visit to the country, where he met with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and National Security Advisor John Bolton.
Besides Venezuela, another topic discussed by Araújo with US authorities was the official visit that Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro is expected to make in March, probably in the second half of the month, without a confirmed date yet, according to the Foreign Minister.
The time to talk to Maduro has passed, says US envoy.
The time for dialogue with Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has passed, declared the US special envoy to the South American country, Elliott Abrams.
"The time for dialogue with Maduro has passed," he commented in a press conference.
Like Araújo, Abrams criticized the GCI meeting, convened at the initiative of Uruguay and Mexico, held this Thursday in Montevideo.
"We are not interested in joining the Contact Group," he stressed.
The diplomat called on the international community to recognize Juan Guaidó, the leader of the opposition National Assembly (a unicameral parliament, disregarded since 2016), whom the US had already recognized as the interim president of Venezuela.
"The U.S. government is coordinating with Guaidó and his team of experts, as well as with other governments in the region and humanitarian aid experts in terms of logistics to provide assistance," Abrams stated.
He added that the United States is providing food and medicine to Colombia "so that they can be safely delivered to Venezuela as quickly as possible."
Venezuela is going through an economic and political crisis that worsened on January 23, after Guaidó proclaimed himself "interim president" of the country.
It was immediately recognized by the US, 11 of the 14 member countries of the Lima Group (including Brazil), and most EU member states, with some exceptions, such as Italy.
Russia, Bolivia, China, Cuba, Iran, Türkiye, and other countries reaffirmed their support for the current Venezuelan government.
Meanwhile, Maduro, who assumed his second term on January 10, called Guaidó's declaration an attempted coup and blamed the US for orchestrating it.
On February 2nd, Maduro said that 2019 will be the year of Venezuela's economic recovery, which is on track to "overcome the criminal dollar and hyperinflation" it faces because of the economic war promoted by the US.