Facing tensions between Venezuela and the US, Mercosur rejects use of force

[OyaYansa]

The bloc issued a statement on the political situation of the Caribbean country

Facing tensions between Venezuela and the United States, which reached a new peak with Donald Trump's announcement of a possible "military option" in the Caribbean country to which Caracas responded that he will defend himself from the "supreme extremism" of the United States, Mercosur returned to To reject the use of force to restore democratic order in Venezuela.

"The Mercosur countries consider that the only acceptable instruments for the promotion of democracy are dialogue and diplomacy. The repudiation of violence and any option involving the use of force is unavoidable and constitutes the fundamental basis of democratic coexistence , Both at the internal level and in international relations, "the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

The usual tensions between Caracas and Washington since the arrival of Chavez in 1999 have escalated further in recent weeks.

"We have many options for Venezuela, including a possible military option if necessary," the US president said from his golf club in New Jersey, where he is on vacation. His government has imposed financial sanctions against President Nicolás Maduro and several of his former officials and collaborators for having advanced with a Constituent Assembly installed last week and qualified by the Venezuelan opposition as a maneuver to establish a "dictatorship."

This is in the midst of a wave of protests against Maduro that left about 125 dead in little more than four months.

"The Mercosur countries will continue to insist, individually and collectively, that Venezuela fulfill the commitments it has freely and sovereignly assumed with democracy as the only acceptable form of government in the region." The Venezuelan government can not hope to coexist Normal with its neighbors in the region until democracy is restored in the country, "continues the Foreign Ministry statement.

The bloc suspended Venezuela under the Ushuaia Protocol on Democratic Commitment on August 5 as a result of the finding of a serious breach of the democratic order in that country. "Measures announced by the government and by the National Constituent Assembly in recent days have further reduced the space for political debate and negotiation," he said, adding that "since then, repression, arbitrary arrests and the curtailment of individual liberties have increased. Is stated in the statement.

Consulted Luis Almagro, secretary general of the OAS, on the Mercosur communiqué, merely sent a tweet he had written this morning: "Inter-American Democratic Charter @ OEA_ official is the instrument to defend democracy and the ideal framework to act in Venezuela ".

Javier Miranda, President of the Ampio Front, told a press conference that his political force condemned the use of force and any warmongering intervention and that Trump's sayings did nothing to solve the crisis. "We strongly condemn the words of the President of the United States," he said.