Sir Louis Straker the outgoing Chairman of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Council for Foreign and Community Relations (COFCOR) is confident CARICOM will stand behind the embattled Nicolas Maduro government in Venezuela, despite concerns raised by his own prime minister that the regional grouping was divided over the issue.
Speaking with reporters Thursday in Barbados at COFCOR’s 20th meeting at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre, Sir Louis gave the assurance that CARICOM would not abandon Venezuela in its time of need, adding that the South American nation had been “very good” to the Caribbean over the years.
Sir Louis repeated the very words used by the Vincentian prime minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves that some within the OAS were pushing for regime change in the oil producing country, something Sir Loius said the 14-member regional grouping would not tolerate.
“There are others who might have ulterior motives in trying to get regime change in Venezuela . . . .There are those who want to impose their will and stir up strife in Venezuela and we will not support that kind of thing, and no amount of pressure can be brought on St Vincent and the Grenadines or on CARICOM. There might be one or two countries [that may not go along with the grouping], but overwhelmingly, CARICOM is in support of Venezuela,” he assured.
Stating that he wanted peace and stability to prevail, Sir Louis said Almagro’s actions were “totally out of order” and he had insulted Maduro by going beyond “the normal diplomatic channels and the normal diplomatic norms to express his views on Venezuela”.
Sir Louis told journalists Thursday there was nothing happening in Venezuela that required fact-finding. Instead, he said, there was need for “some kind of dialogue between the opposing forces”, but that was becoming difficult because “the opposing forces feel they have the secretary general of the OAS on their side, and some large states on their side who are aiding and abetting the kind of turbulence you have in Venezuela”.
The Vincentian diplomat reminded those “straddling the fence” that the Bolivarian Republic “has been pro-CARICOM and has done more for CARICOM than some of the big powers, and they should stand by Venezuela”.
“It is much to our detriment if we allow ourselves to be manipulated into a situation where we side with the bigger powers who are stirring up things in Venezuela and want regime change. We should not go that way,” he said firmly.
