Mercosur: Uruguay and Paraguay criticize Venezuela – 07/04/2023 – World

The presidents of Uruguay, Luis Lacalle Pou, and Paraguay, Mario Abdo Benítez, criticized the exclusion of opponents in the elections in Venezuela during the Mercosur summit this Tuesday (4th) and demanded a clear position from the bloc in relation to the regime of dictator Nicolás Maduro, suspended from the group since 2016.

“Everyone here knows what we think about the Venezuelan regime, we all have a clear opinion. We need to be objective,” said the Uruguayan leader. “It is clear that Venezuela is not going to emerge from a healthy democracy, and when there are indications of the possibility of an election, a candidate like Maria Corina Machado, who has enormous potential, is disqualified for political reasons, not legal ones.”

He continued: “Someone might say: what does this have to do with Mercosur? It has to do with why the different blocs and associations in the world raised their voice in favor of democracy. […] There has to be a clear signal so that the Venezuelan people can move towards a full democracy, which they clearly lack today.”

The main names of the Venezuelan opposition were disqualified from holding public office last Friday (30) by decision of the Comptroller General, which in practice buried the prospects of free and democratic elections that Maduro said he would hold in 2024.

Former congresswoman María Corina Machado, currently the main opponent, was ineligible for 15 years. Henrique Capriles, twice presidential candidate, and Juan Guaidó, who was recognized as interim president by more than 50 countries, will also not be able to run for election next year.

Before Lacalle Pou, the Paraguayan Abdo Benítez, who is leaving the presidency and placed his successor Santiago Peña by his side at the Mercosur meeting, spoke along the same lines. “The only reasonable limit [para a integração dos países] must be respect for democracy and human rights,” he declared.

“With great concern we are seeing the latest events in Venezuela. I have always sought to give voice to the suffering Venezuelan people and this time will not be an exception. Consistency cannot be left out at the last minute. When a way out, a hope, appears, with the holding of elections with the opposition, we saw that illusion quickly erased with the disqualification of Maria Corina Machado”, he said.

“This problem is not due to the vision or obsession of the President of Paraguay, this is an achievement that clashes head-on and scandalously with human rights. […] The guarantees of human rights admit that only criminal judges, within the framework of a process, can restrict participation through convictions”, he added.

This Monday (3), the European Union had also expressed deep concern with the disqualification of opponents in the country and suggested reviewing the role of the Venezuelan Comptroller General. The demonstration came through a note from the head of EU diplomacy, Josep Borrell.

Lula has taken advice from people close to him in recent days to stop commenting on the political situation in Venezuela, but the tendency is for him to maintain his position on the neighboring country and also defend Maduro. The evaluation of interlocutors is that the relationship with Caracas became the main source of wear at the beginning of the third term.

This was the first time that the four presidents of the bloc sat together, after four years without everyone meeting in person due to the pandemic and due to ideological differences between presidents like Jair Bolsonaro (PL), who did not attend the last half-yearly summit, in December last year.

Mercosur today is made up of Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay and has the other seven South Americans as associated countries, with the exception of Venezuela, which was suspended in 2016 for violating the bloc’s clauses. Since 2012, Bolivia has been in an accession process that depends on the approval of the Brazilian Congress — Chancellor Mauro Vieira said he wants to move forward with the procedures in the coming months.