How does Venezuela become a security question to appear before Security Council? – PM

At a cocktail held in honour of the delegates attending the United Nations Special Committee on Decolonization, Prime Minister, Dr Ralph Gonsalves expressed concerns about a closed-door meeting at the UN Security Council in New York with Venezuela, on Wednesday, May 17, 2017. Prime Minister Gonsalves and his wife, Eloise Gonsalves, hosted the cocktail at his official residence in Old Montrose on Thursday, May 18, 2017.

“Now somebody needs to tell me how Venezuela becomes a security question to appear before the Security Council,” Dr Gonsalves stated. He referred to former United States President Barack Obama statements at the Summit of the Americas in Panama: “He told us also at a pre-meeting with CARICOM in Jamaica, that Venezuela as a security issue for the United States, [that it was]… way, way down the totem pole… you can hardly recognize it. He [former President Obama] said we

have more serious problems higher up… but how is it Venezuela is now a security problem?”

The Prime Minister emphasized that he was “not making any accusation about any body which is collapsing or dying or decaying. I am making no such comment. I am just making a general statement.” He added that dialogue is very important in political matters. “We have to always have dialogue and we must have conversations. In the case of Venezuela we must do so”.

The United Nations Special Committee on Decolonization was held at the National Insurance Services conference room from Tuesday, May 16 – 18, 2017. It focused on the “Future for decolonization in the Non-Self Governing Territories. What are the Prospects?”