The Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS) Luis Almagro met yesterday, Tuesday 18 April 2017, with former President Leonel Fernández to discuss regional matters. The two-hour meeting took place starting at 9am at the office of the Foundation for Global Democracy and Development (Funglode).
As reported, Almagro arrived on Monday evening, and was scheduled to fly to Miami on Tuesday afternoon. Almagro had reported via Twitter that he was traveling to the Dominican Republic to meet with Fernández to discuss regional issues.
The Fundación Global issued a press release after the meeting, indicating that various aspects related to the urgent challenges affecting Latin America and the Caribbean such as organized crime and citizen insecurity were discussed, as well as diverse matters regarding Venezuela and the political situation in that country.
On Monday, 17 April 2016, the director of the National Investigations Agency (DNI), Sigfrido Pared Pérez, had said the agency would investigate claims that Venezuelans were conspiring against the government of Venezuela from Dominican territory.
Funglode says that meeting was also attended by Francisco Guerrero Aguirre, Secretary for Strengthening Democracy of the OAS; Gonzalo Koncke, Chief of Staff of the OAS Secretary General; former Vice President of the Dominican Republic Rafael Alburquerque; former Minister of Interior and Police of the Dominican Republic Franklin Ameyda Rancier; and the executive director of Funglode, Marco Herrera.
Fernández in the past has served as mediator in Venezuelan matters dating back to 2010, when he was part of an international team that successfully negotiated an end to the Colombia-Venezuela border crisis.
Since last year, Fernandez has participated in mediation between opposition groups in Venezuela and the Maduro administration, under the Democratic Unit Table (MUD) promoted by Unasur. In addition to Fernandez other regional mediators are former President of Panama Martín Torrijos, former President of Spain José Luís Rodríguez Zapatero and a representative of the Vatican. These conversations have not led to an agreement between the parties in the dispute.
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7 Dias
Listin Diario
19 April 2017
