MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Mercosur condemns violence in Venezuela and calls for dialogue

The group trusts the Venezuelan government will not rest in its efforts to keep peace

Mercosur country members, in an official release rejected all acts of violence and condemned the destabilization attempts against the government of Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro.

 Member states from Mercosur “repudiate all kind of violence and intolerance which pretends to attack democracy and its institutions, whatever its origin”, points out the release, and 'reiterates its strong commitment with the full exercise of democratic institutions, and in that framework rejects the criminal actions from violent groups that want to disseminate intolerance and hatred as an instrument of political struggle in the Bolivarian republic of Venezuela“.

They also reject all rupture threats against the democratic order constituted on the legitimacy of universal ballot and reiterate their strong position in defense and preservation of the democratic institutions, as indicated in the 1998 Ushuaia Protocol on Mercosur democratic commitment.

The statement which was released by the Venezuelan Foreign Affairs ministry website calls on all sides ”to continue addressing the nation's problems through dialogue in the framework of the democratic institutions, rule of the law, as has been promoted by President Nicolas Maduro in recent weeks“.

Finally the release extends its condolences to the families of the fatal victims, ”the result of provoked serious disturbances, and fully trusts that the Venezuelan government will not rest in its effort to keep the peace and full guarantees for all citizens”.

Venezuela currently holds the Mercosur chair, because of the suspension of Paraguay in June 2012.