Foreign Affairs Minister to attend upcoming Lima Group meeting on Venezuela

News release

April 13, 2019 - Ottawa, Ontario - Global Affairs Canada

The Honourable Chrystia Freeland, Minister of Foreign Affairs, will attend the 12th ministerial meeting of the Lima Group, in Santiago, Chile, on Monday, April 15, 2019.

The members of the Lima Group will meet to discuss their support for the people of Venezuela and their demand for democracy and human rights. The Lima Group supports Juan Guaidó as the interim president of Venezuela and calls for free and fair elections.

The foreign ministers will also discuss how to address the devastating humanitarian impact of the crisis and how to best support countries in the region. 

Quotes

“Recent developments are a testament to the deepening crisis in Venezuela: power failures, water shortages, use of paramilitary groups to intimidate the regime’s opponents, and further repression and persecution of the interim government. The Maduro dictatorship must be held accountable for this crisis and depriving Venezuelans of their most basic rights and needs.  Canada is committed to supporting the peaceful restoration of constitutional democracy in Venezuela.”

– Honourable Chrystia Freeland, P.C., M.P., Minister of Foreign Affairs

Quick facts

  • More than 3 million Venezuelans have been forced to flee their homes since 2015 in search of food, health care and other basic services.

  • The Lima Group was established on August 8, 2017, in Lima, Peru, to coordinate participating countries’ efforts and apply international pressure on the Maduro regime. 

  • The last meeting of the Lima Group, held in Bogotá, Colombia, on February 25, 2019, included representatives of Venezuela’s interim government, led by interim president Juan Guaidó, as full participants of the Lima Group. 

  • The Lima Group is committed to supporting the efforts of the Venezuelan people to restore constitutional democracy in their country. 

  • Canada has hosted the Lima Group on October 26, 2017 and February 4, 2019 in Toronto and Ottawa, Ontario, respectively.

Associated links

Contacts

Adam Austen
Press Secretary
Office of the Minister of Foreign Affairs
Adam.Austen@international.gc.ca

Media Relations Office
Global Affairs Canada
343-203-7700
media@international.gc.ca
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