Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza has arrived in Nicaragua to hold talks with the Sandinista leaders of the Central American country. Their discussions will revolve around strengthening bilateral relations and other common areas of interest listed in the agenda of Arreaza's Latin American and Caribbean Union and Dignity Tour.
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His regional tour is scheduled to run parallel with and counteract U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson's six-day diplomatic sojourn to Mexico, Argentina, Peru and Colombia, and with a final stopover in Jamaica on Feb. 7.
Before he traveled to Nicaragua, Arreaza met with the Prime Minister of Belize, Dean Barrow to discuss matters of mutual interest.
During his tour, Arreaza has explained the ramifications of U.S. imposed attacks and sanctions against Venezuela, as well as attempts to block greater integration in the region. He also discussed the National Constituent Assembly's, ANC, decision to hold presidential elections in April this year, and recalled the electoral process, which established the representative body, and allowed for the successful completion of regional and municipal elections last year.
Durante el encuentro en Belice, el canciller @jaarreaza conversó con el primer ministro, Dean Barrow, sobre la realidad política y social que se vive en Venezuela. #2FebElPuebloSeHizoGobierno pic.twitter.com/argAilRsT7
— Cancillería ���� (@CancilleriaVE) February 3, 2018
Arreaza's tour comes amid threats made against the Venezuelan government. On Thursday, Tillerson raised the prospect of a military coup against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and seemingly praised past military dictatorships as "agents of change."
"In the history of Venezuela and South American countries, it is often times that the military is the agent of change when things are so bad, and the leadership can no longer serve the people," Tillerson said during a speech at the University of Texas.
Speaking ahead of a five-nation Latin America tour, the U.S. diplomat insisted that his government was not advocating "regime change," but suggested the Venezuelan leader could flee to ally Cuba.
"If the kitchen gets a little too hot for him, I am sure that he's got some friends over in Cuba that could give him a nice hacienda on the beach and he could have a nice life over there."