MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Lacalle Pou tells UN to focus on Venezuela

The international community should not tolerate Maduro's arbitrariness, Lacalle insisted

Uruguayan President Luis Lacalle Pou Thursday urged the United Nations General Assembly in New York to pay attention to the Venezuelan crisis sparked by Nicolás Maduro's unsupported victory claims in the July 28 elections. “The time has come to act for Venezuela,” the National Party leader underlined.

 “I cannot fail to mention what is happening in Venezuela. Among other things, because this is not new in our position. Fortunately, we have always been far from that authoritarian and intolerant regime, which has attempted against freedom and the common good”, he argued while insisting that many world leaders “have looked the other way” in the face of Chavista authoritarianism. “Some of them out of self-interest,” he noted.

“I believe that this is not about presenting the minutes of the elections, or anything like that. It is about condemning the fraud, it is about condemning the regime and condemning not only a flawed electoral process. We must also condemn the political persecution, the violation of human rights, the arbitrary imprisonment,” he added.

“The time has come to act for Venezuela and for Venezuelans. If the international community is tolerant of these attitudes, we can only wait for the next country that will be subjected to what Venezuelans are being subjected to,” Lacalle Pou warned in his last appearance. In this scenario, Lacalle said he reviewed his previous UN speeches and recalled that the concept of freedom with responsibility was always a guiding thread.

The Uruguayan leader also foresaw a deepening globalization for which a solid and credible International Law was needed. He also highlighted protectionism as a barrier to global development while underlining the importance of freedom of trade. “We have to have a world that is more open to goods and services from other countries,” he stressed.

In his view, it was also paramount “to understand each other better, and take advantage of the synergies of the encounter of different cultures; as long as we are tolerant and respectful of countries that think differently.”

Uruguay will hold presidential elections on Oct. 27 with a possible runoff on Nov. 24. Back-to-back reelection is not allowed.