“The situation in Venezuela is definitely destabilizing the entire region,” said the Foreign Minister at a high-level meeting she led together with US Secretary of State Antony[...]

On the margins of the 79th UN General Assembly, Foreign Minister Mondino had a busy schedule today in New York, including a meeting of Ibero-American Foreign Ministers and a High-level meeting on the situation in Venezuela. In addition, she participated in the EU - CELAC Summit and held a bilateral meeting with the Secretary General of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf, Jasem Mohamed Albudaiwi.

In the morning, Foreign Minister Mondino attended a working breakfast with her counterparts from Ibero-America, where she expressed Argentina's support for the work Ecuador has been doing since it took over the Pro Tempore Secretariat, especially in view of the 29th Ibero-American Summit of Heads of State and Government, to be held in Cuenca next November.

Then, Foreign Minister Mondino and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken presided over a high-level meeting on the situation in Venezuela, during which the participants highlighted that the international community cannot continue to demand access to the voting records. Instead, the only way to verify the results of the election is through the voting records gathered by the opposition, which are considered valid by the Carter Center.

"The situation in Venezuela is definitely destabilizing the entire region. 7.7 million people have fled the country and most of them are immigrating to Latin American countries. It is not always possible for them to reunite with their families or get a job in their host countries. It is not easy to host such a large number of people. It is not easy to fight any potential xenophobia that might arise, and which we have never had in Latin America," Mondino stated.

"We all know that we defend democracy. We all know that we defend freedom. We all know that there are certain things that should not be allowed. But these things happen. And when they happen, we, the various countries that respect democracy, do not have the tools we need to act," she added.

In addition, the Foreign Minister stated: "I can tell you what Argentina has done to help the Venezuelans that already are in Argentina. We have approved a special regime for migratory regularization for the people that have fled Venezuela. And some of them have been living in Argentina for 10 years now. Their children left Venezuela being babies; they do not have any kind of document. We are trying to help them join the formal labour market, which is a difficult task, because they do not have the required paperwork from their country of origin."

Mondino referred to the circumstances under which Argentina granted asylum to six Venezuelan citizens in the Argentine Residence in Caracas and to various other measures adopted by Argentina, including demanding the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court to issue an arrest warrant against Maduro and other regime leaders and drawing up a list of all the officials and members of the regime that will be banned from entering Argentina.

Mondino also participated in theEU-CELAC Ministerial Meeting, where she highlighted that Argentina shares fundamental values and visions with the EU, including the defence of freedom, democracy, human rights, economic development, and trade and investments promotion. "We are firmly committed to deepening the relationship with the EU and its member countries," Mondino said.

In addition, she stressed that "within MERCOSUR, Argentina is strongly promoting the trade agreement with the EU, so as to finally conclude it after 25 years of negotiations. This is a priority for the Argentine Government and we expect the EU to be equally committed to the prompt conclusion of the negotiations."

Later, Mondino held a number of bilateral meetings with other Ministers and high-level authorities. She met with the Secretary General of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf, Jasem Mohamed Albudaiwi, to whom she said that "the economies of the Council's member countries are of great interest to Argentina for their openness, transparency and market conditions and because they are complementary with our economy."

Secretary Albudaiwi stated that "Argentina is a great partner" and highlighted the strong ties between our country and the countries of the Council (Saudi Arabia, the Kingdom of Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, the Sultanate of Oman and Qatar).They agreed to promote trade relationships among these countries so that they can realize their full potential. In this regard, Mondino stressed that Argentina's capacities can contribute to food safety in the Gulf region and represent a great opportunity to increase investments in sectors such as energy (conventional and renewable), lithium mining, agriculture and logistics.

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