The International Contact Group for Venezuela (ICG), consisting of Latin American countries and the European Union, met with Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in Caracas, Venezuela, May 16 and 17, to discuss possible solutions to the crisis. ICG’s involvement followed a recent declaration by its members urging Maduro and the President of the National Assembly, Juan Guaidó, to come together in search of a resolution. See FAQs: What is the international Contact Group for Venezuela?  

Representing the ICG were European Union Ambassador to Venezuela Isabel Brilhante, Undersecretary of Foreign Affairs of Uruguay Ariel Bergamino, Spanish diplomat Juan Pablo de LaIglesia, Italian Senator Ricardo Merlo, the Portuguese official José Luis Carneiro and Swedish diplomat Annika Söder.

In a similar vein, the foreign ministers of the countries of the region that make up the Lima Group, including Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Canada and Chile, are set to hold an International Conference for Democracy in Venezuela, to be held in Lima, Peru, some time in July. Meanwhile, the meeting that the Group had planned for May 20 in Guatemala has been postponed pending the outcome of the meeting between the ICG and Maduro. The Lima Group plans to hold a separate summit with the ICG in the coming weeks to outline joint strategies on the Venezuela crisis. See FAQs: What is the Lima Group?