Barbados PM Welcomes Venezuela dialogue, Rejects Intervention Attempts

Prime Minister of Barbados Mia Mottley issued a statement Tuesday saying that her government was happy and ready to host the Venezuelan dialogue efforts between the Venezuelan government and the opposition brokered by the government of Norway. 

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"The government of Barbados is happy to be able to facilitate the location for the discussions between the two sides in Venezuela, facilitated by the Government of Norway," Mottley said in a statement. 

"I think that the public will recall that since January the Government of Barbados along with other CARICOM governments, have made it absolutely clear that the time for dialogue is never over and that as a zone of peace, we would want to see a very peaceful resolution to the problems in Venezuela."

Mottley also said that Barbados is known for being a country “That we stay above the fray and that we seek to bring about peace wherever we can and this is a matter that requires the utmost patience so it is not something you should be asking me or anybody about on a daily basis.”

“Let the people talk. When you have deep divisions, it takes time and I have every confidence in the government of Norway being able to do what CARICOM has wanted done from since January in conversations together.”

Mottley went on to say that there was no justification for intervention in Venezuela regardless of the gravity of the situation. “We are aware of the humanitarian crisis and that we are aware equally that you can’t have the kind of, in our view, intervention that is in breach of the charter of United Nations or the charter of the Organization of American States.”

However, last week, the labeling of the situation in Venezuela as a "humanitarian" crisis has been repeatedly rejected by the Venezuelan government, including in its latest objection of the findings of a report released by the United Nations Human Rights Commission. 

The government's statement argued that the government has provided countless evidence to counter the mainstream narrative of "humanitarian crisis" that is sold to the world by the opposition and its NGOs.  

The report, according to the Venezuelan government, misuses the term "humanitarian crisis" and it is not true that any official of the government has recognized that term since there are no arguments to justify such terms.  "The government of Venezuela acknowledges an economic crisis."

Mottley concluded her statement by stressing her government's support for peace and saying that that was one of the main reasons her country was chosen as the venue for seeking reconciliation between the Venezuelan government and the opposition.

“Let the people be in peace, don’t go looking for them. I am serious because what is at stake is too much and the fact that they have chosen Barbados is really a single recognition that for us as a people that we can facilitate this kind of discussion without the kind of pressure that they may face elsewhere,” she said in her statement.