After addressing the Argentine House of Representatives, Foreign Minister Malcorra, together with the highest authorities of her work team, presented at the Palacio San Martin the new guidelines of Argentine foreign policy, delivering a summary of the last six months of work of her Ministry. Speaking to the press, Malcorra addressed several current topics.
With respect to Venezuela, she explained: "The report submitted by Secretary Almagro to the Member States is currently under analysis and must be read carefully. In a few days, a consultation meeting of Member States will be called in order to understand the current situation. What we and the Venezuelan people need is for the parties to come together and find a way to help the country move forward and solve its domestic problems."
"We reiterate our call for dialogue. The issue requires a lot of emphasis and pressure, in order for the two parties -the Government and the opposition- to sit at the table and find a way to solve their differences. The democratic clause covers one aspect of this problem and will be considered. Still, we believe that it is essential for the Venezuelans themselves to find the way out of this complete deadlock," stated Malcorra, adding that: "A crisis of these proportions can only be solved from within and with the full participation of all the organizations of the country. The solution to the problems of a country cannot be imported from abroad. Solutions should be found at home."
When asked whether Argentina had backed out of imposing the Democratic Clause on Venezuela, the Foreign Minister explained: "In December, the President had given a strong signal that he would resort to the democratic clause if parliamentary elections were not properly carried out in Venezuela. What happened after this is public knowledge: elections were held and the opposition obtained an absolute parliamentary majority, with President Maduro acknowledging these results. This is why the debate on the application of the Charter became abstract. Now the debate is resumed and, as I said, we will reconsider the option."
When asked about whether her candidacy to the UN may affect her decision on Venezuela, she stated: "My candidacy to the UN is not personal. It is a policy of the Argentine Government. Suggesting that there might be a conflict of interest is tantamount to not understanding that the Government is betting on this as a State policy."
· PACIFIC ALLIANCE
"The President has been invited by Peru and Chile to participate in the meeting that will be held in Chile in the coming days. It is true that we are interested and we have given proof of this by requesting observer status for Argentina in the Pacific Alliance. But there is not much beyond the observer status," stated Malcorra.
By way of example, she noted that "Chile is an observer State of Mercosur," further explaining that: "We are broadening these mechanisms in order to understand, from a position of limited participation, the way in which complementary mechanisms operate. A technical meeting was held between Mercosur and the Pacific Alliance a few days ago in Lima, and progress was made on a series of issues that will be jointly addressed by the two mechanisms. We are trying to maximize the opportunities to expand Argentina's ties with other regions. Mercosur has envisaged this and, in fact, there is already another Member of Mercosur that is an observer in the Pacific Alliance."
· QUESTION OF THE MALVINAS ISLANDS
I am aware that the Governor of the Islands has made some statements, but I have yet to read them. I believe they have been positive in that they point to interest in a rapprochement, but we must be prudent. The dispute is between Argentina and the United Kingdom, so it should remain to be addressed within the framework of our bilateral relations with the United Kingdom. Having said this, we also believe that there is room to improve our relationship with the islanders and to explore available options. We are working on some ideas and, as soon as they are further developed, we will share them. We do not want to anticipate anything because this is a complex and delicate issue that must be dealt with accordingly.
Press Release No. 167/16
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