The Chancellor cafe santiago He participated today in Bogotá, together with his peers and senior officials from Latin America, Europe and the United States, in the International Conference on the Political Process in Venezuela, convened by the Colombian President, Gustavo Petro.

During his speech, Cafiero emphasized: “Democracy, human rights, the revival of the Venezuelan economy and the well-being of its people are perfectly compatible objectives. Objectives which, as we have seen, can never be achieved through sanctions and blockades. This path makes the international climate scarce and damages the status of Latin America and the Caribbean as the most densely populated zone of peace on the planet”.

“The way to find a political solution to the situation in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela is given by the dialogue between the Venezuelans themselves, without pressure or external conditions, which, within the framework of its institutional and constitutional mechanisms, must guarantee the full validity of democracy. and respect for human rights, thus contributing to the recovery of the Venezuelan economy and the well-being of its people“, condemned the Argentine foreign minister.

The objective of the meeting was to resume political dialogue in Venezuela between the government and the opposition, after the rounds of negotiations organized by Mexico, within the framework of the Memorandum of Understanding signed in this country in 2021.

With this in mind, at the Paris Peace Forum held in November 2022, President Alberto Fernández, together with the French and Colombian leaders, expressed their full support for the resumption of the negotiation process among Venezuelans. The objective of this initiative was to encourage political actors to agree on a way out of the situation with a view to free and democratic presidential elections with international election observation in 2024.

The countries that participated in this meeting were: Argentina, Barbados, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Spain, United States, France, Honduras, Italy, Mexico , Norway, Portugal, United Kingdom, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, South Africa , Türkiye and the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell.