While the Venezuelan government raise the tone of your claim for the return of the Emtrasur plane “kidnapped” in Buenos Aires, and faithful to the policy of political “balance” promoted by the president Alberto Fernandez, The Argentine Foreign Ministry defended the inclusion of Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua in the context of CELACthe body that Argentina presides until the end of the year and that brings together 32 countries of the continent.
“All CELAC countries are democratic, it is justly democratic to accept all government systems. There is no ideological gaze here, but rather unity in diversity“, said to THE NATION the Undersecretary for Latin American Affairs, Gustavo Martinez Pandianinational coordinator of the community of nations, which next Thursday will celebrate the international seminar on “the future of integration”, together with the Development Bank of Latin America (CAF), and with the presence of representatives of its 32 member countries.
In a conversation with journalists from different media, including THE NATION, to give details regarding the seminar, Martínez Pandiani defended the right of all countries to “choose” their political system. “When there are human rights violations, Argentina points them out, as it has done at the UN in Geneva. But we think it’s a bad idea to exclude”, completed the official when asked by this newspaper regarding the possibility of applying a democratic clause in CELAC, in relation to Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua.
He also avoided evaluating the harsh complaints of Caracas, through the number two of the Bolivarian regime, God given hairand later in the mouth of the president himself Nicholas Maduroin relation to the plane of the Emtrasur company, still held at the Ezeiza airport.
“The issue of the plane does not alter the link with Venezuela at all, it is a judicial issue and the Executive Branch does not have much to do. We are not going to get involved,” the official said. Nor did he directly respond to the “soft” accusations that Cabello launched once morest President Fernández for not acting directly to “liberate” the plane and its 19 crew members (Iranian and Venezuelan), 14 of whom already have official authorization to return to Caracas. although they are all still investigated by the judge Federico Villena for his alleged links to terrorist organizations.
“The link with Venezuela is normalized, we made the decision to raise the relationship to the level of ambassadors, what is said is up to the person who says it,” said Martínez Pandiani. Off the microphone, official sources attributed the angry claim of Venezuela (which for two months said nothing regarding the plane) to the “internal” between Maduro and Cabello.
“We don’t want anyone to feel excluded, not Venezuela or Cuba, but neither Ecuador or Costa Rica, which are governments with different characteristics,” said Martínez Pandiani, who faced the press together with the CAF vice president, Christian Asinelli.
On Thursday, the President will close the seminar at the CCK together with his peers from Mexico, Andres Manuel Lopez Obradorand from Barbados, Mia Mottleyboth virtually, with the additional possibility of the presence (also via zoom) of the former president and current presidential candidate in Brazil Luis Inacio Lula da Silva. They promise to be on the closing panel, in addition, the former presidents Jose Pepe Mujica (Uruguay), Ernest Samper (Colombian) and Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero (Spain).
In the context of the upcoming CELAC activities, the officials detailed that towards mid-September, within the framework of the United Nations General Assembly, the President will share a panel with the Nobel Prize winners Adolfo Perez Esquivel, Rigoberta Menchu y Juan Manuel Santos. And that the first meeting of Celac-European Union foreign ministers is scheduled for the end of October, in Buenos Aires, “to which all the member countries of both conglomerates are invited.”
No news regarding the bilateral with Joe Biden, suspended days ago due to the Covid contagion of the president of the United States, from the Government they do not deny that Fernández might, with the total consensus of his peers, go for another year at the head of CELAC. “That will be defined by the plenary session in January. Argentina is going to abide by the decision that is made,” said Martínez Pandiani. And he reiterated that the chancellor santiago cafiero He will propose to his peers to “discuss” the institutionalization of CELAC, so that it has a general secretary, a budget and a “consensus” system to make decisions, which today are carried out unanimously.
Does CELAC seek to compete with the OAS? “Not at all, they have other objectives, it is not our model or our competitor,” said the undersecretary. And he added that Brazil, currently outside CELAC by decision of the government of Jair Bolsonaro“you are always invited”, although he clarified: “We respect the decisions of each country”.
