MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Uruguayan Chancellor avoid describing Venezuela as a dictatorship and clashes with the President Lacalle Pou's policy

“What I personally think about the regime that governs Venezuela ceased to be relevant at the time I assumed this position,” Talvi said. SEBASTIÁN ASTORGA/MERCOPRESS

A few months ago, Foreign Minister Ernesto Talvi, at his rallies as a candidate for the presidency of Uruguay, did not hesitate to describe the Venezuelan government as a dictatorship. However, in an interview this Saturday he affirmed that he “won't say in this role” that the regime of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro is a dictatorship.

Beyond that the chancellor, a member of a political coalition that won the national elections against the leftist Frente Amplio in November, in an interview with El Observador said that he believes that in Venezuela there is no democracy. “I am chancellor of the republic. I no longer represent my opinion or that of a political sector, but that of all citizens of the republic before a government with which we maintain diplomatic relations. I am using respectful language, which is what corresponds to my position, ” Talvi said when asked, because since he took office he did not define the Maduro regime as a dictatorship again.

“Uruguay is clear and unambiguous: in Venezuela there is no democracy and human rights are systematically violated,” said the former Colorado party candidate (center). But then he added: “This chancellor is not going to say that word in this role (dictatorship) and what I personally think about the regime that governs Venezuela ceased to be relevant at the time I assumed this position. Just look at what I thought when I was not chancellor, then you will know what I think. I did not change my mind but as chancellor it is not appropriate for me to use those terms ”.

When President Luis Lacalle Pou took office on March 1, the Venezuelan president did not appear on his guest list for the ceremony, arguing that he did not do so because he considered him as a “dictator”. “I am not willing to have the dictator Maduro in our assumption, it is a personal decision that I take charge of,” the president said on February 15 during a press conference.

The position of the Uruguayan government chancellor clashes with what Lacalle Pou announced. The president assumed a critical stance with Maduro and has indicated that it will be a foreign policy issue with which he is committed.