Caricom meets with EU in Uruguay

Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley, along with the rest of the Caricom delegation in Uruguay for talks on resolving the Venezuela crisis, yesterday met with Federica Mogherini, vice president of the European Commission and High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy.

The delegation is headed by chairman Dr Timothy Harris, who is also PM of St Kitts and Nevis, and includes Barbados PM Mia Mottley and Caricom Secretary General Irwin La Roque.

Caricom underscored the importance of the need for the EU, as an organisation and its individual member states, to recognise the presence of and exposure of neighbouring territories in this Venezuelan crisis. The EU assured that Caricom’s interests would be welcomed as part of any discussion or mechanism as all parties attempt to work together to bring about a peaceful, sustainable outcome without the use of force and through a process that was owned by the Venezuelan people.

The Uruguay delegation confirmed that in their meeting with the EU the Montevideo Mechanism, which sought to encourage dialogue between political factions in Venezuela, remained intact, a sentiment that has been reaffirmed by Caricom.