Spanish MEP Ramon Jauregui shows great concern at the situation in Venezuela

USPA NEWS - Spanish MEP Ramon Jauregui (S&D), co-president the EuroLat Assembly, stated his "great concern" at the situation in Venezuela and called for the release of political prisoners and for elections, in a statement to next week's EU, Latin American and Caribbean Summit (EU-CELAC) in Brussels.

At the end of the eighth plenary session of the Euro-Latin American Parliamentary Assembly, Ramon Jauregui called on Venezuela's institutions and political parties and all its leaders to respect "democratic rules in the exercise of their responsibilities" and stressed that "democratic fair play is incompatible with the existence of political prisoners." Spanish MEP issued this statement after the European and Latin American members failed to agree a joint declaration ““despite agreeing on more than 40 of the draft's 45 points““ because of the reference to Venezuela.

He also refers to the situation in Cuba and Colombia. Regarding Cuba, Jauregui says the EU-Cuba talks started over a year ago must "move forward in order to achieve a bilateral agreement on political dialogue and cooperation." He also welcomes the talks between the US and Cuba, “which will lead to the lifting of the embargo and the inapplicability of extraterritorial laws.“

The EuroLat co-president voices his support for the process of dialogue between the Colombian government and the FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia ““ People's Army) aimed at ending the internal conflict. He urges both sides to continue the process and overcome the tensions of recent months. He asks for the National Liberation Army (ELN) to be included in the talks and he calls for the victims of the conflict to be taken into account and fairly compensated.

The final resolution, consisting of 45 points, covers other issues such as trade agreements, terrorism, gender equality policies, sustainable employment, the fight against drug trafficking and migration. On the fight against climate change, Ramon Jauregui insists on "achieving unanimous agreement to keep global warming below 2°C in the Paris Conference on Climate Change (COP21)“ to take place in December 2015. The Latin American component of EuroLat appointed Roberto Requiao, from Brasil, as their new co-president, replacing Jose Leonel Vasquez Bucaro, from El Salvador.