MFA: Minister for Foreign Affairs Haavisto to attend international conference on Venezuela in Peru

“Finland supports working closely with countries in the area to resolve the situation in Venezuela. The activities of the EU-led international contact group play an integral role in this work. The work of the Lima Group, a regional bloc made up of countries in the Americas, is also vital. Finland supports all efforts to find a peaceful and democratic solution to the Venezuela crisis,” says Minister for Foreign Affairs Haavisto.

The political crisis in Venezuela reached a breaking point at the start of 2019, when President Nicolás Maduro began his disputed second term while National Assembly President Juan Guaidó declared himself acting President. Despite many international negotiation attempts, the situation has not yet been resolved and remains tense.

The worsening humanitarian crisis in Venezuela, which has been compounded by recent blackouts, is a shared concern of the EU Member States. According to the UN, nearly seven million people, or 25 per cent of the country’s population, are in need of humanitarian aid. Since last year, the EU has allocated a total of EUR 117.6 million for crisis management in Venezuela and its neighbouring countries.

Since 2014, more than four million Venezuelans have fled the country. The effects of this migration are wide-ranging, as the UN estimates that Venezuelans have fled to more than 20 countries. This is the largest wave of migration in Latin American history, and it is leading to instability throughout the area. The effects are most significant in neighbouring Colombia, where more than 1.3 Venezuelans have fled, in the other Andean countries Peru, Chile and Ecuador, and elsewhere in South America and the Caribbean.

The Lima conference is a good opportunity for Minister for Foreign Affairs Haavisto to meet with foreign ministers from countries in the area to discuss solutions to the Venezuela crisis and possibilities to deepen the EU’s and Finland’s cooperation with Latin America in promoting human rights, democracy, the rule of law and sustainable development.

The Venezuela conference is being organised by Peru, one of the founding members of the Lima Group. The Lima Group is working to restore democracy in Venezuela. It is made up of 13 Latin American and Caribbean countries and Canada.

Inquiries: Jeri Aalto, Special Adviser to the Minister for Foreign Affairs, tel. +358 50 472 0725, and Tiina Nikkinen, Desk Officer, Unit for Latin America and the Caribbean, tel. +358 50 321 1091.

The Foreign Ministry's email addresses are of the format firstname.lastname@formin.fi.