President Luis Arce, La Paz, Bolivia, August, 2021.
9 August 2021
OPINION
This U.S.-controlled organization was created to support actions against Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro.
On Sunday, Bolivia’s President Luis Arce welcomed the Peruvian government’s withdrawal from the Lima Group, which supported the U.S.-backed attempts to overthrow Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro in 2019.
"Latin America is moving towards a stage of integration based on respect and solidarity among its peoples," Arce said, adding that his administration aims to strengthen regional integration through the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC).
In referring to the Lima Group, Foreign Affairs Minister Rogelio Mayta said that alliances that exercise ideological and political distinctions do not prosper. Besides, he called for respect to the interests of Latin American peoples in regional integration mechanisms.
"A united Latin America is not only possible, it is urgent," assured Mayta, whose country also left this U.S.-controlled organization along with Mexico and Argentina.
The Lima Group was created in August 2017 by Peru’s former President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski (2016-2018) to integrate far-right governments and support Venezuelan opposition politician Juan Guaido.
Supported by the Organization of American States (OAS) and the European Union (EU), the Lima Group brings together right-wing politicians from Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Panama, Paraguay, Guyana, and Saint Lucia.
"Under the administration of President Pedro Castillo, Peru will no longer intervene in the internal affairs of Venezuela or any other nation,” Foreign Affairs Minister Hector Bejar said, and condemned U.S. sanctions against Venezuela.