Washington, March 20 (IANS): Most member countries of the inter-continental body, Organisation of American States (OAS), have called for a dialogue between the US and Venezuela to reduce tension.
Foreign ministers and representatives from the American continent met in a session of the organisation's Permanent Council on Thursday to discuss escalating tensions between the two countries, Spanish news agency Efe reported.
Reactions to US President Barack Obama's executive order last week declaring a "national emergency" over Venezuela's situation ranged from rejection to perplexity to disbelief.
Venezuelan Foreign Minister Delcy Rodriguez warned that the order, which includes sanctions against seven Venezuelan officials, violated international law and the country's sovereignty in addition to posing a real threat to the country.
"History has shown that declarations like this tend to precede military interventions... whereby hegemonic interests are attempting to take control of the world's largest petroleum reserves," she declared.
Meanwhile, interim US permanent representative to the OAS, Michael Fitzpatrick, categorically denied that the US government was preparing for military intervention in Venezuela.
"We do not seek to destabilise the Venezuelan government with a coup d'état," he emphasised, adding that executive orders had been issued against dozens of other countries too, not just Venezuela, as mandated by a bill passed by the US Congress in December.
He also appealed to the OAS, which he called "an institution based on democratic principles", to address the human rights situation in Venezuela, including the arrest of opposition leaders.
OAS Secretary-General Jose Miguel Insulza said that it was not common in the region for a country to be declared a threat to the security of another and warned that the escalation in tension between US and Venezuela could have "unprecedented consequences".
Insulza urged the OAS to call for dialogue and seek agreement between the two countries, thereby protecting the positive atmosphere that the recent US-Cuba rapprochement had generated for the upcoming Summit of the Americas in Panama.
Representatives from Panama, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Mexico, Colombia, Peru, Brazil, Guatemala, Honduras among others also emphasised the importance of bilateral talks between the two countries in resolving differences ahead of the summit in April.