The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) is continuing in its ongoing efforts to resolve the ongoing situation in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and its implications for the Community.
According to a CARICOM press release, the representatives of the Community continued their engagements at the United Nations (UN) and the Trinidad and Tobago Permanent Mission in New York.
A delegation, which was comprised of Dr Timothy Harris, Chairman of CARICOM and Prime Minister of St Kitts and Nevis; Dr Keith Rowley, Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago; Peter David, Foreign Minister of Grenada; Irwin LaRocque, CARICOM Secretary-General; and the Permanent Representatives met on Tuesday with the President of the UN General Assembly Mari Fernanda Espinosa Garcés and the Permanent Representatives to the UN of Australia, Brazil, Nicaragua, South Africa and Uruguay.
The release said the Prime Ministers expressed their concern over the escalation of the situation in Venezuela and the adverse implications for the people of Venezuela and the immediate region. The members of the delegation underlined their support for dialogue and posited the urgent need for the contending parties in Venezuela to come together to find a peaceful solution.
In addition they reaffirmed the guiding principles of non-interference and non-intervention and called on states to refrain from the threat or use of force as well as respect for sovereignty and adherence to the rule of law, the release added, while noting that he representatives of the Community restated its willingness to provide its good offices and to work with like-minded states to this end. They also welcomed the initiative of Mexico and Uruguay in seeking to facilitate a dialogue among the parties.
CARICOM stated that the delegation was satisfied that it had attained its objectives and that it has sensitised its interlocutors on the views and concerns of the Community and received positive responses.
Last week Thursday, CARICOM Heads of Government noted their “grave concern” over the political instability in Venezuela and offered to assist in mediation to prevent further crisis. They also offered their good offices to facilitate dialogue among all parties to resolve the deepening crisis. “Heads of Government… expressed grave concern about the plight of the people of Venezuela and the increasing volatility of the situation brought about by recent developments which could lead to further violence, confrontation, breakdown of law and order and greater suffering for the people of the country,” the Heads of Government of Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Jamaica, Montserrat, St. Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, and Foreign Ministers of Grenada and Suriname said in a joint statement after a video-conference last Thursday about the situation.
