Mexico, Uruguay and CARICOM present the "Montevideo Mechanism" for dialogue in Venezuela

The governments of Uruguay and Mexico presented on Wednesday the so-called “Montevideo Mechanism”, a proposal to generate a dialogue between the government of Nicolás Maduro and the Venezuelan opposition led by Juan Guaidó.

The announcement was made in Montevideo at a joint press conference held by Uruguay’s foreign ministers Rodolfo Nin Novoa and Mexico’s Marcelo Ebrard.

This “Montevideo Mechanism” consists of four stages, explained Nin Novoa.

The first is the “immediate dialogue” and the “generation of conditions for direct contact between the actors,” said Nin, referring to the Maduro government and the opposition.
The second step would be the “negotiation and presentation of results of the dialogue, with points in common and a space for the flexibility of the positions” of each party.
The third step would be “the commitment and the signing of agreements”.
The last step of this “mechanism” would be “the implementation and materialization of the agreements, with international participation,” Nin added.

The foreign ministers of Uruguay and Mexico read a joint statement that also highlights the “concern” of both countries “for the serious humanitarian situation” and “exhort” all parties “to respect human rights.”

A big delegation from CARICOM also participated, actively working to create the conditions to solve the Venezuelan crisis through a dialogue with real results, following the directions of the Secretary General of United Nations, Antonio Guterres.

Elections?

Chancellor Nin Novoa said that this proposal is made “without conditions”, so there is no need to hold early presidential elections in Venezuela. “If we ask for elections at this moment, we are imposing conditions that hinder dialogue. They are the ones who must agree. We go to the dialogue without conditions. Get together, talk and fix, “answered Nin.

Mediators

The foreign ministers also announced that they will propose three internationally recognized figures to promote dialogue in Venezuela. This is Enrique Iglesias (former Uruguayan chancellor, former president of the IDB and former Ibero-American general secretary). They also propose the former Mexican Foreign Minister Bernardo Sepúlveda and the former Vice President of Costa Rica and current Ibero-American General Secretary Rebeca Grynspan.

Gobiernos de México, Uruguay, y @CARICOMorg, en atención al llamado del secretario General de la #ONU, @antonioguterres, coinciden en que la única vía para abordar la situación en Venezuela es el diálogo para la negociación, desde el respeto al derecho internacional y los #DDHH. pic.twitter.com/DvhCYseNsd
— SRE México (@SRE_mx) February 6, 2019