Mexico City and Madrid call for a dialogue between the sides to the Venezuelan crisis without setting any conditions, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said.
“We and the Spanish government share the call for dialogue between the [Venezuelan] sides. I believe that we have agreed that we can engage in this [process] if it is necessary in order to make both sides of the conflict sit down and maintain dialogue without any conditions,” Obrador told reporters after his meeting with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Wednesday.
Previously US special envoy for Venezuela Elliott Abrams warned the Venezuelan authorities against taking any actions to counter the country’s self-proclaimed interim president Juan Guaido, reiterating recent threats by US National Security Advisor John Bolton, who warned that any “violence and intimidation” against the opposition leader would be met with a “significant response”.
Spain was among a group of states, also including France, Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, which said last Saturday they would recognize the head of the opposition-controlled National Assembly of Venezuela, Juan Guaido, as the interim president of the country if new elections are not announced in Venezuela within eight days.
The ultimatum has been rejected by Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro who criticized it as an infringement on Venezuela’s sovereignty, calling Guaido a “US puppet”.Russia, Cuba, China, Turkey and Iran have given Maduro’s government full support, with Maduro himself calling Venezuela “the victim of a US conspiracy”, referring to US Vice President Mike Pence promising Guaido “full American support” the day before he declared himself Venezuela’s new head of state. Maduro also stressed that Venezuela had held legitimate elections and urged European countries to withdraw their demand.