Ministers of foreign affairs of the regional states that compose the Lima Group, such as Argentina, Ecuador, Peru, Canada and Colombia, met April 15 in Santiago, Chile, to analyze the current political, economic and humanitarian crisis in Venezuela. Participants issued a statement reiterating their support for the self-proclaimed interim president of Venezuela, Juan Guaidó, and urging the United Nations (UN) to take measures against Nicolas Maduro’s administration to avoid aggravating the crisis. They also announced that an International Conference for Democracy in Venezuela will be held in Peru. There is no planned date for the event yet.

The Lima Group is of the position that Maduro lacks any will for dialogue and should thus immediately vacate the Executive branch. Its members see this as the only way to re-establish democracy and constitutional order in Venezuela. One of the invited participants of the event, Chilean President Sebastián Piñera, said “the dialogue has been going on in Venezuela for too long without any results”. He called on the other international group of nations seeking to resolve the Venezuelan crisis, the International Contact Group (made up of Uruguay, Mexico and the European Union, among others), to join forces in their efforts to bring about fair and free elections.

There were also calls for the UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, and the UN Security Council to take action to prevent the destabilization of peace and security in the region, and to provide humanitarian assistance to the population and migrants from Venezuela. Finally, the foreign ministers agreed to hold an International Conference for Democracy in Venezuela in Lima, Peru, on an as yet unspecified date. “All the States that support the democratic recovery in that country” will be invited.