- Title: Venezuelan FM hails strenghtened independence after break from OAS
- Date: 27th April 2017
- Summary: CARACAS, VENEZUELA (APRIL 27, 2017) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF VENEZUELAN FOREIGN MINISTRY VARIOUS OF VENEZUELAN FOREIGN MINISTER, DELCY RODRIGUEZ, ARRIVING FOR NEWS CONFERENCE WITH OFFICIALS RODRIGUEZ DRINKING WATER DURING NEWS CONFERENCE GENERAL VIEW OF GOVERNMENT PANEL AT NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) VENEZUELAN FOREIGN MINISTER DELCY RODRIGUEZ, SAYING: "Venezuela is not going to participate in any events of the Organisation of American States (OAS). Venezuela has withdrawn (from the group) and today we are going to formalise the process with the Secretary General of the organisation with a letter denouncing the Organisation of American States and definitively withdrawing from this organisation." PANEL APPLAUDING RODRIGUEZ DURING NEWS CONFERENCE GENERAL VIEW OF NEWS CONFERENCE JOURNALISTS DURING NEWS CONFERENCE MORE OF NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) VENEZUELAN FOREIGN, MINISTER DELCY RODRIGUEZ, SAYING: "Today is a victorious day for Venezuela. Because we are more free, more independent and we have left an environment that was an instrument of the hegemonic country, which has been an instrument of the central power of the United States to make the people and the governments of our region submit to their will." RODRIGUEZ AND OFFICIALS DURING NEWS CONFERENCE OFFICIAL DURING NEWS CONFERENCE GENERAL VIEW OF NEWS CONFERENCE
- Embargoed: 11th May 2017 19:44
- Keywords: OAS Organisation of American States Venezuela withdraw Foreign Minister Delcy Rodriguez
- Location: CARACAS, VENEZUELA
- City: CARACAS, VENEZUELA
- Country: Venezuela
- Topics: Diplomacy/Foreign Policy,Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA0016E6E6V7
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Venezuelan Foreign Minister Delcy Rodriguez announced on Thursday (April 27) that Caracas will immediately end cooperation with the Organisation of American States (OAS) as it prepares its official withdrawal from the body, deepening the diplomatic isolation of the socialist-run nation that is already out of step with Latin America's steady shift to the right.
Venezuela has said the move was a response to a Washington-backed campaign against the ruling Socialist Party that is meant to trample on the sovereignty of Venezuela, the United States' principal ideological adversary in the region.
The official procedure to leave the OAS is expected to take 24 months. It will be the first time any country has left the body. Its close ally Cuba was barred from the Organisation after the revolution, but technically remained a member.
Rodriguez celebrated the decision to withdraw from the OAS as a victory. Maduro's announcement to leave the body came after the OAS agreed to hold a meeting of foreign ministers to discuss the situation in Venezuela. He has called the OAS a pawn of U.S. policy.
The decision extends Venezuela's drift toward the fringes of international diplomacy. But the limited influence of the OAS means its exit will have few economic implications for the OPEC nation that is already struggling under triple-digit inflation, chronic product shortages and a crippling recession.
Venezuela's withdrawal from the OAS could hit Caracas fiscally, with the Venezuelan government estimated to hold an $8.7 million dollar debt to the body. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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