In a meeting held in the City Hall of Sao Paulo today, Saturday 5th. The chancellors of Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, and Paraguay decided on the political suspension of Venezuela. The Mercosur announced that it Venezuela is suspended from the bloc because of a break with the democratic order.
The meeting was attended by the Brazilian foreign minister, Aloysio Nunes, the chancellors of Argentina, Jorge Faurie of Uruguay, Rodolfo Nin Novoa, and Eladio Loizaga of Paraguay.
The statement signed by ministers following the meeting in Sao Paulo announced:
“The suspension of Venezuela was applied due to the actions of the government of Nicolás Maduro and is an immediate call for the beginning of a process of political transition and restoration of democratic order.”
The suspension.
The suspension is grounded in the Protocol of Ushuaia, which deals with the democratic commitments to be followed by members of the bloc.
This is the second time, in the period of one year, that Venezuela is suspended from Mercosur. The first suspension, in December, was for non-compliance with rules of adhesion to the bloc for technical issues, such as the non-application of agreements and norms in the country. The new suspension is decided based on the Protocol of Ushuaia, the democracy clause of Mercosur, on account of the Constituent Assembly installed on Friday.
In practice, the decision does not affect the few Brazilian exports to the neighboring country. "We only export food today and suspending it now would only aggravate the crisis," said Aloysio Nunes, the Brazilian foreign minister.
Among the conditions for the lifting of the sanctions are the release of political prisoners, restoration of legislative powers, resumption of the electoral calendar, and annulment of the Constituent Assembly.
Leaders on the issue.
According to Aloysio, “Venezuela refused to come to Brazil for consultations and dialogue with the bloc”. Brazil has the temporary presidency of the group. After assuming the presidency of Mercosur, Brazilian diplomacy invited Maduro and members of the Venezuelan opposition to come to Sao Paulo in an attempt to break the dialogue.
However, there was no response from government representatives regarding the invitation.
According to the Uruguayan chancellor, the block's decision was in favor of the Venezuelan people. “Without renouncing dialogue, we are committed to democracy,” Rodolfo said.
For the Argentine Chancellor, the decision is political and makes clear that “without democracy, there is no way to be part of Mercosur.
It's bad to put a brother out the door, it's sad, but we see the dead, we see the repression, and we had enough of this repressive and dictatorial Venezuela.”
The meeting was convened in an extraordinary way by Brazil, which holds the rotating presidency of the bloc after Venezuela promoted the National Constituent Assembly on Sunday (30). The lawsuit was rejected by a large part of the international community because it was considered a maneuver by Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro against the country's parliament, mostly made up of oppositionists.
With the suspension, Venezuela can only return to the bloc after a regime change, with democratic elections.
