Latin America may sever ties to Venezuela: Update
Adds details on Bogota meeting, Mexico stance.
Latin American and Caribbean countries are moving closer to severing diplomatic relations with Venezuela and are weighing tougher measures ahead of the controversial 10 January re-inauguration of Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro.
Representatives of the Lima Group, which was formed by a dozen Latin American and Caribbean countries and Canada in August 2017 to coordinate action on Venezuela, will meet in Bogota on 19 December to consider its response to the political and economic crisis in the Opec country.
Colombia´s foreign ministry confirmed that the meeting will take place at the vice ministerial level, and will be chaired by the country´s vice minister for multilateral affairs, Adriana Mejia.
Except for Venezuela´s close political allies Cuba and Nicaragua, the region no longer depends on Venezuelan crude or refined products, so a diplomatic cutoff would have no practical commercial effect. But the Lima Group, which sought a unified regional position on Venezuela to counter divisions in the Organization of American States (OAS), remains fractured. Some countries, particularly in the Southern Cone, are more hawkish, seeking an outright cutoff of relations and a possible travel ban targeted at senior Venezuelan officials. Others to the north such as Panama and Caribbean islands that have financial, logistical and potential natural gas ties to Venezuela and state-owned oil company PdV are more cautious and may just withdraw ambassadors rather than sever ties altogether.
Colombia, the most exposed because of its volatile 2,200km border with Venezuela, has not had an ambassador in Caracas since March 2017. Bogota is spearheading efforts to garner international support for Venezuelan migrants, which number more than a million in Colombia alone.
Some members of Venezuela´s divided opposition want the Lima Group to recognize a government in exile, probably based in Bogota, at the same time that it breaks relations with Caracas. Others are pushing for US-led military action.
Brazil´s incoming president Jair Bolsonaro, who takes office on 1 January, is a hardliner, along with the leadership in Chile, Argentina and Peru. A big question mark hangs over the stance of Mexico, which belongs to the Lima Group. But the country´s position is shifting under new leftist president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (Amlo). Maduro attended Amlo´s 1 December inauguration in Mexico City, one in a series of recent international trips aimed at showing that Venezuela is not isolated.
Mexico´s foreign ministry said it could not confirm at this time whether a government representative would attend next week´s meeting in Bogota. Foreign minister Marcelo Ebrard has previously said Mexico would not intervene in Venezuela and wants to have "friendly relations" with all countries.
Peruvian foreign minister Nestor Popolizio told reporters in Lima on 7 December that while Peru opposes any form of military intervention, his country wants more international pressure to "help the Venezuelan opposition find a mechanism for transition and end the Maduro regime." Maduro was re-elected in May 2018 in a voting process widely condemned abroad as fraudulent.
Popolizio acknowledged that it will not be easy to persuade all members of the Lima Group to break off ties with Caracas. "We don´t know if all the members will agree, but our goal is that all decisions be applied in some way by all the member countries," he said.
Another proposal is for the Lima Group to follow Canada, the EU and US by banning targeted Venezuelan officials from visiting member nations, Popolizio said.
In an 8 December response on Twitter to the Peruvian official´s remarks, Venezuelan foreign minister Jorge Arreaza accused Lima Group governments of collusion with drug traffickers and paramilitary groups. The Venezuelan government claims the group had a hand in a drone incident earlier this year allegedly meant to assassinate Maduro. The countries in the region deny any intervention.
Peru pulled its ambassador from Venezuela in May 2017 and withdrew an invitation to Maduro for the Summit of the Americas last April in Lima, a decision backed by the Lima Group.
Peru is second to Colombia in the number of Venezuelan migrants who have entered the country over the past couple of years. The national migration service puts the number of Venezuelans in Peru above 600,000.
"We need a much more energetic international response for countries receiving immigrants to ensure a safe, orderly and regulated process," said Popolizio.
The migration flow could accelerate ahead of 10 January.
Maduro hosted the Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan and took a high-profile trip to Moscow last week. The government is also showing off its 2019 assumption of the rotating presidency of Opec. Abstention exceeded 70pc in municipal elections held yesterday and celebrated by the government as a consolidation of democracy.
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Opec+, Saudis have no target oil price: sources
Opec+, Saudis have no target oil price: sources
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Hurricane Helene shuts in 29pc of US Gulf oil
Hurricane Helene shuts in 29pc of US Gulf oil
New York, 25 September (Argus) — Hurricane Helene, which is forecast to intensify as it heads for a late Thursday landfall in Florida, has shut in about 29pc of US Gulf of Mexico oil output. Around 511,000 b/d of US offshore oil output was off line as of 12:30pm ET, according to the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE), while 313mn cf/d of natural gas production, or 17pc of the region's output, was also off line. Operators have so far evacuated workers from 17 offshore platforms. Helene was last about 110 miles north-northeast of Cozumel, Mexico, according to a 2pm ET advisory from the US National Hurricane Center, with maximum sustained winds of 80 mph. Helene is expected to be a major hurricane, with winds of at least 111mph, when it reaches the eastern Florida coast on Thursday evening. "A turn toward the north and north-northeast with an increase in forward speed is expected later today through Thursday, bringing the center of Helene across the eastern Gulf of Mexico and to the Florida Big Bend coast by Thursday evening," the center said. Shell restarting some production Although the hurricane will largely pass to the east of most offshore oil and gas production areas, companies have taken precautionary measures. Given a shift in the forecast track, Shell said late Tuesday that it had started to ramp up production at the Appomattox platform to normal levels, and was in the process of restoring output at the Stones facility, both off the coast of Louisiana. It paused some drilling operations. Chevron said earlier it was shutting in production at company-operated facilities in the Gulf of Mexico, and evacuating all workers. Equinor said it was shutting down the Titan oil platform. BP had earlier this week started to shut in production at its Na Kika and Thunder Horse platforms, southeast of New Orleans, and was curtailing output from its Argos and Atlantis facilities, as well as removing non-essential staff. US offshore production was disrupted earlier this month when Hurricane Francine made landfall, with up to 42pc of production was offline at one point. The offshore Gulf of Mexico accounts for around 15pc of total US crude output and 5pc of US natural gas production. By Stephen Cunningham Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
LNG glut coming and may catch many by surprise: Orsted
LNG glut coming and may catch many by surprise: Orsted
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US trucking index at 18-month high in August: ATA
US trucking index at 18-month high in August: ATA
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