EuroLat Assembly: Jáuregui shows 'great concern' at situation in Venezuela

Ramón Jáuregui (S&D, ES), co-president the EuroLat Assembly, on Friday (5 June) stated his "great concern" at the situation in Venezuela and called for the release of political prisoners and for elections, in a statement to next week's EU, Latin American and Caribbean Summit (EU-CELAC) in Brussels representing the majority position of the EuroLat MEPs. He also refers to the situation in Cuba and Colombia.

At the end of the eighth plenary session of the Euro-Latin American Parliamentary Assembly, Jáuregui called on Venezuela's institutions and political parties and all its leaders to respect "democratic rules in the exercise of their responsibilities" and stressed that "democratic fair play is incompatible with the existence of political prisoners".

Jáuregui issued this statement after the European and Latin American members failed to agree a joint declaration – despite agreeing on more than 40 of the draft's 45 points – because of the reference to Venezuela.

Cuba

Regarding Cuba, Jáuregui said the EU-Cuba talks started over a year ago must "move forward in order to achieve a bilateral agreement on political dialogue and co-operation". He also welcomed the talks between the US and Cuba, “which will lead to the lifting of the embargo and the inapplicability of extraterritorial laws”.

Colombia

The EuroLat co-president voiced his support for the process of dialogue between the Colombian government and the FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia – People's Army) aimed at ending the internal conflict. He urged both sides to continue the process and overcome the tensions of recent months. He asked for the National Liberation Army (ELN) to be included in the talks and he calls for the victims of the conflict to be taken into account and fairly compensated.

Other issues debated

The final resolution, consisting of 45 points, covers other issues such as trade agreements, terrorism, gender equality policies, sustainable employment, the fight against drug trafficking and migration.

On the fight against climate change, Mr Jáuregui insists on "achieving unanimous agreement to keep global warming below 2°C in the Paris Conference on Climate Change (COP21)” to take place in December 2015.

The Latin American component of EuroLat appointed Roberto Requiao, from Brasil, as their new co-president, replacing José Leonel Vásquez Búcaro, from El Salvador.

Cuba, Venezuela and Colombia debated at 8th EUROLAT plenary session