Lima Group Statement

August 13, 2019

1. The governments of Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Saint-Lucia, and Venezuela, members of the Lima Group, categorically reject the threat by the Maduro regime’s illegitimate National Constituent Assembly to unconstitutionally call for advanced elections of the National Assembly of Venezuela, which remains the only democratically elected legitimate authority.
2. Any threat by the National Constituent Assembly and/or the illegitimate Maduro regime to the National Assembly represents an open affront to democracy and the Inter-American Democratic Charter.
3. The illegitimate Maduro regime continues to systematically undermine institutions in Venezuela. This attempt to convene elections, in addition to the lifting of the parliamentary immunity of four more members of the National Assembly, is yet another clear violation of all democratic norms, as well as the rule of law and the Venezuelan Constitution.
4. The Lima Group calls on the international community to speak with one voice and demand an end to these provocative and desperate actions by the illegitimate Maduro regime.