PM Browne calls for Establishment of Group of Leaders to broker dialogue between Venezuela and the USA

Statement by the Hon Gaston Browne MP Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda at Meeting of ALBA Leaders in Caracas, Venezuela Tuesday 17th March 2015
 
My government is troubled by the escalation of antagonism between two very important member states of our Hemisphere – Venezuela and the United States of America.
We are concerned that the government of the United States of America has unilaterally decided that there are human rights violations in Venezuela that merit the application of sanctions. 
We hold the view that allegations of human rights violations in any of the member states of our Hemisphere should be adjudged by appropriate bodies within our hemispheric organisations or by the United Nations organ established for this purpose.
A decision on human rights violations in any country should not be the province of any other single country in the world.
We note that the Executive Order by US President Barack Obama sates that in applying sanctions against 7 officials of the Venezuelan Government, the US is “protecting the U.S. financial system from the illicit financial flows from public corruption in Venezuela”.
While my government accepts that it is up to any government in the world whether it applies sanctions on another, the process for doing so should be transparent with convincing evidence provided. 
My government regrets the language of the Executive Order that declared “a national emergency” because it was felt that “the situation in Venezuela” poses an “unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States”.
We firmly reject that notion. 
We are assured by the Government of Venezuela of its peace-loving policies and actions toward all the nations of our Hemisphere.
Antigua and Barbuda would welcome a swift improvement in the relations between the United States and Venezuela and the development of a co-operative affiliation between them that would redound to the benefit of our Hemisphere as a whole.
Our Hemisphere has the potential for being the strongest economic area of the world, generating increased investment, production, employment and an enhanced quality of life for our people.
I am also mindful that we are only weeks away from the Summit of the Americas in Panama, the theme of which is: “Prosperity with Equity: The Challenge of Co-operation in the Americas”.
The theme is an aspiration to which all our governments should work; its realisation would benefit all our people.
In this connection, I propose that this meeting agree that a small group of governments be appointed to act as honest brokers in establishing a framework for dialogue between representatives of the governments of Venezuela and the United States with a view to improving relations between them.
My government makes this proposal in the interest of the stability, growth and development of all the countries of our Hemisphere.