MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Argentina withdraws from lawsuit against Maduro before the International Criminal Court

Under Macri, Argentina had acknowledged Juan Guaidó as interim President of Venezuela

The Government of Argentina Wednesday withdrew from a joint lawsuit filed against the regime of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro before the International Criminal Court (ICC) brought forward by the previous administration of President Mauricio Macri.

The criminal case, filed by the Lima Group, included Argentina as one of the founding members of that alliance, but since the administration of President Alberto Fernández decided to pull out from that bloc it was also logical it stayed away from actions undertaken by it, diplomatic sources have explained.

“On March 24, we officially announced the withdrawal from the Lima Group. As a consequence of that, on March 25 we got off a complaint that we had made as to the Lima Group because we no longer belong,” said Foreign Ministry sources who released the news just this past Wednesday, May 26, despite a letter sent to the ICC on March 25.

“The prosecution's investigation is continuing, it is not up to us,” the sources added. Argentina's withdrawal is in no way a result “of the actions that the Prosecutor's Office carries out regarding the situation in Venezuela following the provisions of the Rome Statute, respecting judicial independence.“

On March 24, the government of Alberto Fernández left the Lima Group and explained that the decision was made due to differences with the treatment that that bloc gave to the crisis in Venezuela, which ”has led nowhere.“

The Fernandez administration intends to work with Maduro to ”direct peaceful, democratic and respectful solutions for the sovereignty and internal affairs of each State.”

Argentina's Foreign Ministry has said that “the best way to help Venezuelans is by facilitating an inclusive dialogue that does not favour any particular sector, but rather to achieve elections accepted by the majority (of citizens) with international control.“

”The Venezuelan authorities cannot ignore, however, that producing the conditions for a dialogue that is productive is primarily their responsibility,” said Argentina.

The Lima Group is made up of Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Paraguay and Peru.

Under Macri, Argentina had a strong role in the group, having acknowledged opposition leader Juan Guaidó as interim president of Venezuela, something which was reversed since Alberto Fernández came to power.