FROM EIR DAILY ALERT

Mexican President Rejects EU Games against Venezuela

Jan. 31, 2019 (EIRNS)—During a press conference today with visiting Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador made clear he has no intention in joining the European Union’s proposed Contact Group on Venezuela, but will stick to Mexico’s traditional policy of non-intervention and diplomacy.

The new EU group will begin operating today, and will invite Ibero-American nations to join. Spain was also invited to join the Lima Group, 11 of whose 14 members, excluding Mexico, have recognized Juan Guaidó as Venezuela’s interim President.

As reported by the daily El Informador today, López Obrador stated that “dialogue is the first step; things cannot be imposed. First the two sides have to be made to dialogue.” He continued pointedly: “We don’t want foreigners to intervene in matters which are exclusive to Mexico. That’s why we must be very careful not to intervene, so that others won’t intervene [in our affairs].”

Sanchez of course insisted that his government has no desire to “install or remove governments,” but rather favors democratic means, such as “fair and transparent elections” in Venezuela.

The Washington Post reported this afternoon that an unnamed senior administration official strongly rejected the proposal from Mexico, Uruguay, and the Vatican to mediate a dialogue between Nicolas Maduro and Juan Guaidó. During a briefing with reporters yesterday, in which he asked not to be identified, the official stated, “we reject any talks of any type of effort that would allow Maduro to maintain himself in power.” Mexico and Uruguay had announced Jan. 30 they would hold an international conference in Montevideo on Feb. 7 to discuss the Venezuelan crisis.