Lima Group calls for Maduro ouster 'without force'

US allies in the Lima Group of Latin American countries plus Canada have called for a regime change in Venezuela where President Nicolas Maduro is under immense pressure to step down.

The Lima Group, set up in 2017 with the aim of undermining Venezuela's socialist government, on Monday sided with US-backed opposition leader Juan Guaido, who declared himself president last month.

The group issued a 17-point declaration in Ottawa, reiterating "their support for a process of peaceful transition through political and diplomatic means without the use of force."

The declaration by Canada, Argentina, Chile, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Panama, Paraguay and Peru insisted that any regime change should take place without a military intervention.

On Sunday, President Donald Trump said a US military intervention in Venezuela was still on the table after his security adviser John Bolton suggested 5,000 troops could be sent to respond to the crisis in Venezuela.

The Lima Group called for measures to prevent the government in Caracas “from conducting financial and trade transactions abroad, from having access to Venezuela's international assets and from doing business in oil, gold and other assets.”

The US, which immediately recognized Guaido as the country’s “interim president,” has already imposed economic and political sanctions on the country.

The most recent measure was taken against oil firm Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) in order to funnel income from the country’s main oil exporter into the hands of the self-declared leader.

The European Union is considering imposing more sanctions on Venezuela but has not discussed an oil embargo, Malta’s foreign minister said on Monday. 

Observers say the new sanctions are set to worsen economic problems of Venezuelan people, who are already struggling under harsh American penalties. 

Bolton said at a briefing last week that the sanctions would cost Caracas $11 billion in lost export proceeds over the next year and block Maduro from accessing PDVSA assets worth $7 billion.

Maduro has accused Washington of stealing the company’s oil and said Bolton was openly calling for a coup from Washington.

PressTV-‘Alert Venezuela!’ Maduro says US stealing oil revenue

President Nicolas Maduro of Venezuela accuses the US of stealing oil revenue from Venezuelans with new sanctions.

Hands off Venezuela

Canada's Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland on Monday called for a freeze of the Venezuelan government's assets to put them in the hands of the opposition leader. 

Her remarks at the closing press conference of the Lima Group were interrupted by protesters who called on the bloc to take their "hands off Venezuela.”

Freeland also ruled out military intervention as an option to overthrow the government of President Maduro.

Peru's Foreign Minister Nestor Popolizio, who has already warned Washington against military intervention, also reiterated that the group “would not consider the use of force."

PressTV-Lima Group opposes military intervention in Venezuela

The Lima Group opposes any military intervention as a solution to the crisis in Venezuela, amid speculation that the United States is preparing for such aggression.

Maduro has warned Trump against attempting to topple his government, saying the US president would be held responsible in the event of any ensuing violence.

In an interview with Press TV, Latin America expert Gloria La Riva, said that the oil-rich county “is particularly strategic for the United States and Canada.”

“Now Canada is hosting the Lima Group today,” she said. “Canada is a major oil seeking and mining country and they are exploiting gold and other strategic metals around the world. So, Venezuela is very very important to them.”

Cheryl Labash, writer and anti-imperialist activist, also told Press TV that the US “is trying to redraw its hegemony over Latin America” by ousting Maduro who “is a democratically elected president of Venezuela.”

US intervention could spark civil war

Maduro told a Spanish television on Monday that the crisis could lead to civil war in the oil-rich country.

"Everything depends on the level of madness and aggressiveness of the northern empire [the US] and its Western allies,” he said. "We ask that nobody intervenes in our internal affairs... and we prepare ourselves to defend our country."

In a coordinated move on Monday, 17 countries of the 28-member European Union, including France, Spain and the United Kingdom, officially announced their support for Guido. Italy, however, blocked a European Union statement to recognize the self-declared president. 

The decision came after Maduro rejected an EU ultimatum to hold an early presidential election, saying “Venezuela has done all its elections.”

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