Sept. 26 (UPI) — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Argentine Foreign Minister Diana Mondino launched a diplomatic offensive on the “urgent situation” in Venezuela on sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly Thursday in New York.
The meeting, convened at the Palace Hotel in New York, sought to present a united front by Washington and South America’s largest economy, Argentina, against the “authoritarian” threat presented by Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
“We all know what’s happening. I think we do,” Mondino said. “There are winds, authoritarian winds, blowing in our continent, and let’s hope it does not become a hurricane. The things that are going on in Venezuela can become a most serious problem.”
As he has frequently in recent months, Blinken denounced Maduro’s refusal to relinquish the presidency despite “overwhelming evidence” he decisively lost the July 28 presidential election and then instituted a brutal crackdown on peaceful protesters that has resulted in millions of refugees pouring out of the country.
“We come here united in the commitment to defend the human rights of the Venezuelan people, and committed to bring about an inclusive, Venezuelan-led effort to restore the nation’s democratic future,” the top U.S. diplomat said. “That means insisting that Maduro engage in a direct dialogue with Venezuela’s united democratic opposition that leads to a peaceful return to democracy.
“The United States and its partners stand fully ready to support this process.”
The pair each insisted on recognizing the victory of opposition candidate Edmundo González Urrutia and demanded that the result of the polls be respected. That view was shared by representatives of 40 countries and multilateral organizations also present at the meeting, including the European Union, the Organization of American States and the Carter Center.
Also on Thursday, the United States and Argentina, joined by 29 others, issued a joint statement about their “grave concerns about the urgent situation in Venezuela” and reiterating their support for “respecting democratic principles and upholding human rights” in the country.
Mondino said the refugee crisis created by Maduro’s repression is having profound consequences for her country and the South American continent.
“The destabilization … that Venezuela has imposed on other Latin American countries is huge,” she said. “I’ve just heard 7.8 million people have left Venezuela. Most of them are coming into other Latin American countries.”
The number of Venezuelan refugees flocking into Argentina is “incredible” and could trigger “potential xenophobia” across the continent — “which we have never had in Latin America,” Modino warned.
The Argentine diplomat made the comments as her country’s Embassy in Caracas was under siege by the Maduro regime which is seeking the return of six supporters of opposition leader María Corina Machado who have taken shelter in the compound.
Earlier this week during the General Assembly, right-wing Argentine President Javier Milei ripped the international body as a “failing organization” and a “multi-tentacled leviathan” that imposes a “socialist agenda” on its members.
