An agreement aimed at ending more than five decades of conflict between the Colombian government and the FARC guerrilla group was signed in Havana on Thursday at a ceremony presided over by Cuban head of state Raul Castro.
Veteran U.S. diplomat Tom Shannon spoke for nearly two hours with Venezuela President Nicolas Maduro on Wednesday to re-start relations between the ideologically opposed governments amid a punishing economic crisis in the oil rich country.
United States Secretary of State John Kerry announced high-level talks to ease tensions with Venezuela's populist government on Tuesday, just hours after he backed calls for a referendum that could force President Nicolas Maduro from office. Kerry said the talks would start immediately in Caracas and be led by Thomas Shannon, a veteran of U.S. diplomacy in the region. Attempts last year at dialogue between the ideological foes were stalled by Venezuela's deepening crisis.
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's allies asked the Supreme Court on Monday to block a bid to call a referendum on sacking him, accusing the opposition of fraud. The move casts doubt on the recall vote sought by the opposition, which accuses the high court of pro-Maduro bias and has clashed with it repeatedly since winning control of congress in December.
One of Venezuelan top opposition leader on Monday launched a tour of Latin American countries to rally support for his side in its bid to remove President Nicolas Maduro from office. Henrique Capriles, a senior figure in the opposition MUD coalition, was in Paraguay, Argentina and planned to move on to Brazil.
Brazil and Paraguay foreign ministers Jose Serra and Eladio Loizaga expressed deep concern with the Venezuela crisis situation, particularly the economic and human rights continued deterioration, and reiterated their two countries willingness to cooperate and promote dialogue.
After directing criticism at Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and urging that Caracas be considered for suspension from the Organization of American States (OAS), Luis Almagro has accused Argentine President Mauricio Macri of impeding those efforts and of reversing his campaign promises of taking a hard line against Maduro.
Uruguay will hand over the chair of Mercosur to Venezuela at the end of July, as indicated by the organization's calendar, and does not support the implementation of the Democratic clause against the government of president Nicolas Maduro, as sponsored by OAS secretary general, Luis Almagro a former Uruguayan foreign minister.
Brazilian government would like to block Venezuela from taking the rotating presidency of Mercosur later this month, a move to further debilitate Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro's power, according to Planalto sources close to interim president Michel Temer, who admitted the proposal has yet to be discussed with other members.
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said on Tuesday that Organization of American States chief Luis Almagro had called for foreign “intervention” in his country by invoking the body’s Democratic Charter in response to the political crisis in Venezuela.