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The
contact group formed in
January, aiming to help
create the conditions for
Venezuela to emerge from
the crisis. / Ministry
of Foreign Affairs
courtesy photo
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EU-backed
group ready to send
political mission to Venezuela
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By the
A.M. Costa Rica wire services
VOA (www.voanews.com) reported
the European Union-backed
International Contact Group on
Venezuela said on Tuesday it
could send a political mission
to Caracas to pursue a solution
to the country's ongoing crisis,
reiterating its call for fresh
elections.
Speaking after a third meeting
of the group in San José, EU
foreign policy chief Federica
Mogherini said there should be
no military intervention in
Venezuela and urged all sides to
avoid escalating tensions.
"The only way to unblock a
stalemate — in which the country
clearly is — is to find a
democratic, peaceful political
way forward that can be
inclusive and that can respect
the will of the Venezuelan
people," Mogherini told a news
conference.
A stand-off between Venezuela's
President Nicolas Maduro and the
opposition intensified in
January when Juan Guaido, leader
of the National Assembly,
invoked Venezuela's constitution
to assume the interim
presidency, arguing that
Maduro's 2018 re-election was
illegitimate.
Guaido, who Maduro dismisses as
a U.S. puppet trying to foment a
coup, has won the backing of a
number of Western powers.
Mogherini said free and fair
elections should be held to
break the impasse. To encourage
a resolution, she added, the
contact group "is ready to
undertake a mission at the
political level in Caracas."
"There are a set of concrete
options we have worked upon,"
she said, declining to provide
further details.
The group's members, consisting
of about a dozen countries from
Europe and Latin America, and
international governmental
organizations, agreed to meet
again soon to assess progress
and the next steps, she said.
In addition, the group had
accepted an invitation to meet
with the Lima Group, a mostly
Latin American set of nations
also seeking an end to the
crisis in Venezuela, Mogherini
said.
The contact group formed in
January, aiming to help create
the conditions for Venezuela to
emerge from the crisis.
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Is Venezuela's crisis a signal
of the collapse of socialist
ideology? We would like to
know your thoughts on this
story. Send your
comments to: news@amcostarica.com
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