Above photo: Group photo of the Liberty and Democracy Group, formed by extreme-right Latin American politicians, during its 2nd International Summit in Buenos Aires, Argentina, December 22, 2023. Grupo Libertad y Democracia.
Lima Group 2.0.
After the failure of the Lima Group, Latin American right-wing former presidents created a new group to continue interfering in the internal affairs of other countries, such as attempting to overthrow the president of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro.
This new Lima Group is named Liberty and Democracy Group, which includes the former presidents Iván Duque of Colombia, Mauricio Macri of Argentina, Jorge Quiroga of Bolivia, Guillermo Lasso of Ecuador, and Mario Abdo Benítez of Paraguay.
The idea for creating this Lima Group 2.0 came from the late Sebastián Piñera, former president of Chile.
According to Jorge Quiroga, Piñera told him before the fatal helicopter crash that they should “prepare a draft” to respond to the United States, after the US Department of State issued a statement claiming that it did not matter who was the presidential candidate of the opposition in the Venezuelan presidential elections this year.
Following this “request” from Sebastián Piñera, the Liberty and Democracy Group sent a letter to US President Joe Biden on Wednesday, February 14, asking him to ensure that Venezuelan far-right opposition politician María Corina Machado would be on the ballot.
In a clear example of interference in Venezuelan affairs, this ultra-right group claimed that “the only acceptable and internationally recognized election will be the one in which Machado appears on the ballot.”
“Anything less will crush freedom and pulverize democracy forever in that country,” the letter reads.
The far-right ex-presidents also asked the Biden administration to adopt measures against Venezuela as soon as possible and not until April as previously announced, referring to the US threats of intensifying the blockade against Venezuela.
Quiroga further stated that they may change the name of the Liberty and Democracy Group and rename it after Sebastián Piñera since, in his opinion, “everyone recognizes that at this point they are synonymous.”
Piñera, who recently died in a helicopter crash in Chile, was one of the most ardent anti-Venezuela politicians of Latin America. Apart from being a founder of the now dissolved Lima Group that backed the fake “interim government” of Juan Guaidó, he also instigated mass migration from Venezuela as part of the US-led hybrid war. While he was president, Piñera claimed that Venezuelans would be provided with everything in Chile; however, once in Chile, Venezuelan migrants have been victims of systematic xenophobic violence.