Argentina formally exits Lima Group: Update

Adds detail, reaction from US-backed opposition.

Argentina has withdrawn from the Lima Group of Latin American countries and Canada, formalizing the government's shift toward the goal of dialogue with Venezuela.

The actions promoted by the Lima Group "have not led to anything," Argentina's foreign ministry said today, raising objections to the inclusion of only one sector of the Venezuelan opposition.

"We reiterate once again that the best way to help Venezuelans is to facilitate an inclusive dialogue that does not favor any sector in particular" but leads to elections, the ministry said.

Any dialogue needs to also include Venezuelan social actors, including the church, business leaders and non-governmental organizations, the ministry said.

"In the context of the pandemic ... the sanctions and blockades imposed on Venezuela and its authorities, and the destabilization efforts that occurred in 2020, have done nothing except aggravate the situation for the population, especially the most vulnerable sectors," the ministry said, adding that the sanctions have affected Venezuelan human rights.

The main Venezuelan opposition led by Juan Guaido blasted Argentina's pull-out from the Lima Group.

"We regret the Argentinian government's decision to abandon the Lima Group, which since 2017 has been fundamental in denouncing serious human rights violations in Venezuela, and working toward the only real solution, which is to recover democracy in our country," Guaido's envoy in Argentina Elisa Trotta Gamus said on social media today.

The Lima Group is comprised of a handful of Latin American countries plus Canada that promote a democratic transition in Venezuela through coordinated diplomatic action. The group took a confrontational approach toward Caracas after the main political opposition declared an interim government in January 2019. But the group's voice has since faded in parallel to the US-backed opposition's failure to dislodge President Nicolas Maduro's government, despite extensive US sanctions. Key remaining members are Colombia, Peru and Brazil. Chile joined the EU-lead International Contact Group (ICG) on Venezuela in February but maintains its Lima Group membership.

Argentina's Lima Group withdrawal highlights a regional shift toward a more dovish stance espoused by the ICG and Mexico, which early on resisted the Lima Group's actions as internal meddling.

Argentina's posture was already evident in December 2019 when center-left President Alberto Fernandez took office, replacing Mauricio Macri, a conservative businessman and one of the Lima Group's most outspoken members.

Argentina's late president Nestor Kirchner and his wife Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner who succeeded him were close allies of Venezuela's late president Hugo Chavez and his successor Maduro. Cristina Fernandez currently serves as vice president. She is not related to the incumbent president.

By Patricia Garip and Daniel Politi