JavaScript is disabled in your web browser or browser is too old to support JavaScript. Today almost all web pages contain JavaScript, a scripting programming language that runs on visitor's web browser. It makes web pages functional for specific purposes and if disabled for some reason, the content or the functionality of the web page can be limited or unavailable.

Tuesday, July 15, 2025

PM to attend more Venezuela crisis talks

by

News Desk
2355 days ago
20190201

Prime Min­is­ter Dr Kei­th Row­ley will be part of a Cari­com team at an in­ter­na­tion­al meet­ing on the sit­u­a­tion in Venezuela sched­uled for Mon­te­v­ideo, Uruguay on Thurs­day. He will be joined by Mia Mot­t­ley, Prime Min­is­ter of Bar­ba­dos and Cari­com Chair­man Dr Tim­o­thy Har­ris, Prime Min­is­ter of St Kitts and Nevis.

Plans for the meet­ing were con­firmed in a state­ment is­sued late yes­ter­day fol­low­ing a spe­cial emer­gency meet­ing of the Cari­com Heads of Gov­ern­ment held via video con­fer­ence. It was de­cid­ed that the three Prime Min­is­ters who led talks in New York with the Unit­ed Na­tions should rep­re­sent the re­gion in Uruguay.

The gov­ern­ments of Mex­i­co and Uruguay have called for the con­fer­ence with rep­re­sen­ta­tives from the main coun­tries and in­ter­na­tion­al or­gan­i­sa­tions that hold a neu­tral po­si­tion to­wards Venezuela. The pur­pose is to lay the foun­da­tion for es­tab­lish­ing a new mech­a­nism for di­a­logue that, with the in­clu­sion of all Venezue­lan forces, will con­tribute to restor­ing sta­bil­i­ty and peace in that coun­try.

How­ev­er, even as plans were be­ing fi­nalised for the Mon­te­v­ideo meet­ing yes­ter­day, Venezue­lan op­po­si­tion leader Juan Guai­do said turned down of­fers from the pres­i­dents of Mex­i­co and Uruguay to ne­go­ti­ate with Nico­las Maduro.

In a let­ter to both pres­i­dents, Guai­do urged them to back Venezuela’s strug­gle, say­ing to re­main neu­tral aligns them with Maduro.

“At this his­tor­i­cal mo­ment that our coun­try is go­ing through, to be neu­tral is to be on the side of the regime that has con­demned hun­dreds of thou­sands of hu­man be­ings to mis­ery, hunger and ex­ile — in­clud­ing death,” he said.

Guai­do de­clared him­self in­ter­im pres­i­dent last week and has vowed to top­ple Maduro’s ad­min­is­tra­tion, which he la­beled a “dic­ta­tor­ship.” His claim to the pres­i­den­cy is backed by the Unit­ed States and oth­er west­ern­na­tions.

The op­po­si­tion’s pri­or­i­ty is to end Maduro’s grip on pow­er and ush­er in a tran­si­tion by hold­ing de­mo­c­ra­t­ic elec­tions, Guai­do said in the let­ter to Uruguayan Pres­i­dent Tabare Vazquez and Mex­i­co’s Pres­i­dent An­dres Manuel Lopez Obrador.

The Unit­ed States has al­so re­ject­ed of­fers from Mex­i­co, Uruguay and the Vat­i­can to me­di­ate a di­a­logue.

A de­fi­ant Maduro re­mains dug in, blam­ing the White House for open­ly back­ing what he calls a coup to re­move him from pow­er and ex­ploit his coun­try’s vast oil wealth. He re­tains sup­port from pow­er­ful al­lies, in­clud­ing Rus­sia and Chi­na, but is grow­ing in­creas­ing­ly iso­lat­ed as more na­tions back Guai­do.

Yes­ter­day he con­tin­ued a show of strength that has seen him criss­cross Venezuela to over­see mil­i­tary ex­er­cis­es as he vows to de­fend his so­cial­ist gov­ern­ment no mat­ter the cost.

“We’re in a his­toric bat­tle,” Maduro told sev­er­al hun­dred troops stand­ing in for­ma­tion around ar­mored ve­hi­cles. “We’re fac­ing the great­est po­lit­i­cal, diplo­mat­ic and eco­nom­ic ag­gres­sion that Venezuela has con­front­ed in 200 years.”

The mil­i­tary’s top lead­er­ship is back­ing Maduro, though an­a­lysts warn that rank-and-file troops frus­trat­ed by their coun­try’s eco­nom­ic and hu­man­i­tar­i­an cri­sis may not share that un­wa­ver­ing loy­al­ty.


Related articles

Sponsored

Weather

PORT OF SPAIN WEATHER

Sponsored

Today's
Guardian

Publications

Shastri Boodan

Shastri Boodan

Apsara inspires youth through culture

17 hours ago
Dr Mariama Alleyne

Dr Mariama Alleyne

Dr Mariama Alleyne

Dr Mariama Alleyne

Dr Mariama Alleyne: Global Hero of Hope supports cancer survivors

2 days ago
During my consultation with Ms Brafit CEO Nicole Joseph-Chin, what was supposed to be a simple mastectomy bra fitting became something much deeper. Her thoughtful questions unlocked emotions I didn’t even realise I was holding in. She comforted, reassured, and helped me face the truth of what was coming. That bra wasn’t just clothing—it was the first real symbol of life after surgery.

During my consultation with Ms Brafit CEO Nicole Joseph-Chin, what was supposed to be a simple mastectomy bra fitting became something much deeper. Her thoughtful questions unlocked emotions I didn’t even realise I was holding in. She comforted, reassured, and helped me face the truth of what was coming. That bra wasn’t just clothing—it was the first real symbol of life after surgery.

During my consultation with Ms Brafit CEO Nicole Joseph-Chin, what was supposed to be a simple mastectomy bra fitting became something much deeper. Her thoughtful questions unlocked emotions I didn’t even realise I was holding in. She comforted, reassured, and helped me face the truth of what was coming. That bra wasn’t just clothing—it was the first real symbol of life after surgery.

During my consultation with Ms Brafit CEO Nicole Joseph-Chin, what was supposed to be a simple mastectomy bra fitting became something much deeper. Her thoughtful questions unlocked emotions I didn’t even realise I was holding in. She comforted, reassured, and helped me face the truth of what was coming. That bra wasn’t just clothing—it was the first real symbol of life after surgery.

Standing on business, not pity: My fight begins–Part 2

2 days ago
Gillian de Souza graces the cover of the book: Minding Their Own Business: Five Female Leaders From Trinidad and Tobago authored by Trini-American Joanne Kilgour Dowdy, Professor of Literacy Studies at the College of Education Health and Human Services at Kent State University.

Gillian de Souza graces the cover of the book: Minding Their Own Business: Five Female Leaders From Trinidad and Tobago authored by Trini-American Joanne Kilgour Dowdy, Professor of Literacy Studies at the College of Education Health and Human Services at Kent State University.

Gillian de Souza graces the cover of the book: Minding Their Own Business: Five Female Leaders From Trinidad and Tobago authored by Trini-American Joanne Kilgour Dowdy, Professor of Literacy Studies at the College of Education Health and Human Services at Kent State University.

Gillian de Souza graces the cover of the book: Minding Their Own Business: Five Female Leaders From Trinidad and Tobago authored by Trini-American Joanne Kilgour Dowdy, Professor of Literacy Studies at the College of Education Health and Human Services at Kent State University.

Gillian de Souza’s American culinary journey springs from T&T roots

2 days ago