NEW YORK (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 03rd June, 2019) Representatives of the EU-led International Contact Group (ICG) on Venezuela and their counterparts in the Lima Group will discuss the Venezuelan crisis during their first joint meeting at the ministerial level in New York on Monday.
Last week, the representatives of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and opposition leader Juan Guaido met for the second round of talks in the Norwegian capital of Oslo. However, the negotiations ended without any agreement. Still, the government of Norway, which has been seeking to act as a mediator in the dialogue between the Venezuelan government and opposition, noted progress in the talks.
ICG will be headed by EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini, who will be joined by the foreign ministers of Portugal and Uruguay.
The foreign ministers of Canada, Chile and Peru will represent the Lima Group.
The Lima Group invited ICG in early May to convene a meeting to find a solution to the ongoing Venezuelan political crisis. Mogherini accepted the invitation and said that the ICG members were considering the possibility of establishing contacts with the Lima Group, among other groups, to help create an environment to resolve the political crisis in Venezuela.
The Lima Group of 14 countries was created in 2017 with the aim to end the crisis in Venezuela. The group includes Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Costa Rica, Chile, Guyana, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru and Saint Lucia. The majority of organization's member states are backing Guaido.
The ICG, which was created in late January, is comprised of eight EU member states - France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom as well as four Latin American countries - Bolivia, Costa Rica, Ecuador and Uruguay.
Venezuela has been in crisis since January when Guaido proclaimed himself interim president. In May, Guaido directly requested military assistance from the United States to launch operations against Venezuela in the wake of a failed coup attempt.
The United States and over 50 countries recognized Guaido, but Russia, China, Turkey and numerous other countries have said they recognize President Nicolas Maduro as the only legitimate head of state in Venezuela. Maduro has called Guaido a US puppet and accused the United States of orchestrating a coup in Venezuela to effect a forced change of government and claim the country's resources.
