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News > Latin America

Ecuador's VP Says Venezuela Must Be at Summit of the Americas, Rejects Foreign Intervention

  • Ecuadorean Vice President, Maria Alejandra Vicuña, rejects attempts to isolate Venezuela and bar the country's president Nicolas Maduro from attending the Summit of the Americas.

    Ecuadorean Vice President, Maria Alejandra Vicuña, rejects attempts to isolate Venezuela and bar the country's president Nicolas Maduro from attending the Summit of the Americas. | Photo: EFE

Published 21 February 2018
Opinion

Ecuadorean Vice President Vicuña said her country rejects any kind of intervention into Venezuelan internal affairs, while supporting upcoming elections.

Ecuadorean Vice President, Maria Alejandra Vicuña, believes that Venezuela ought to be present at the Summit of the Americas, which will be held in Peru in April and rejects any outside interference in the South American country.

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"It's important that Venezuela be present to hear the different positions on its problems, and above all, the recommendations and the suggestions. We will never be in favor of intervention of any kind, much less military," Vicuña told EFE on Tuesday in Washington.

Vicuña, who is in the United States until Friday, stressed that Venezuela must be present at the meeting of regional leaders "because it is precisely in that space where things must be discussed," in "the spaces of regional integration," and "not necessarily in the media."

Her comments come a week after Peru announced it was withdrawing the invitation for Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro to attended the summit, a decision backed by the twelve countries of the so-called Lima Group and the United States.

Such a decision is seen by Ecuador as meddling in the internal affairs of one of the key countries on the South American continents, "We do not take part when there are positions of interference, we will always reject any form of intervention in the domestic affairs of the states, especially military interventions," warned Vicuña.

"We are absolutely respectful of the position of the different countries, but we stress that respect for international law and dialogue are the best ways to resolve conflicts," the senior Ecuadorean official added.

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She further singled out the United States for calls for military interventions into Venezuela explaining that such comments came from both the president and members of Congress, in reference to Florida Senator Marco Rubio, who called for a coup last week.

Vicuña added: "Latin America has already bled a lot when armed intervention mechanisms have been used in internal affairs of other countries."

The governments of Cuba, Uruguay, and Bolivia have already expressed their opposition to excluding Venezuela from the summit.

WASHINGTON.- Vice President Maria Alejandra Vicuña (left) speaking at the OAS forum. EFE

While the so-called Lima group countries reject the upcoming presidential elections in Venezuela, the Ecuadorean vice president said Quito does not share such an opinion and stressed the Venezuelan people’s right to decide their own destiny through the ballot.

Her government also supports the dialogue efforts in the Dominican Republic between the government and opposition factions and calls for its resumption, Vicuña concluded in her interview with the news agency. The peace talks fell apart at the last minute after the right-wing opposition refused to sign the peace and coexistence agreement under pressure from Washington.

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