Latin American Left-Wing Parties Call for Peace in Venezuela

According to left-wing social movements from Latin America, "drums of war sound today" in the region, because of the United States-backed crisis in Venezuela. These movements call for a political agreement, not a war, in order to solve the current situation.

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Leftist political parties and movements from Chile, Ecuador, Brazil, Peru and Colombia signed a communiqué on Thursday, February 14, calling for dialogue, peace and respect for democracy in the face of the current situation in Venezuela.

They also denounced that the economic measures (sanctions) of the United States and other countries, the rejection of dialogue, and interventionist threats that exacerbate the crisis and stress the global scenario. "The possibility of a violent confrontation in the region, which expands from Venezuela to neighboring countries, is a latent risk that can end with peaceful coexistence," in the region.

The leftists also are accusing the U.S. of commanding the aggression, and organizations such as the Organization of American States (OAS) and the Lima Group of "disregarding the right to self-determination of peoples" only to "make a point."

As a real alternative, these organizations are proposing to privilege diplomacy, creating dialogue channels that would allow the restoration of tranquility to the Venezuelan people and avoid the use of force. They also warned that "any necessary aid should not be politicized, and these tasks should be carried out in the framework of what is proposed by specialized international agencies."

In their statement, the political organizations congratulated the efforts made in Uruguay to create dialogue channels to generate an agreement mechanism and an International Contact Group. "Only those who want a war scenario can deny the importance of both processes and their complementarity."

"Popular organizations, social movements and human rights defenders, both from Venezuela and the region, have a role to play, building trust and promoting peace," they stated in their statement.

The signatory parties and movements are the Common Party, from Chile, and the Autonomist Movement from Ecuador the Citizen Revolution Movement; the New Peru Movement was present in Peru; from Brazil, the PSOL Socialist Left Movement (MES-PSOL); and the parties Common Force, Power and Unity, and Democratic Pole signed for Colombia.