The Foreign Minister of Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro made the call Wednesday to create a bloc of friendly countries to help resolve Libyan conflict, saying that diplomacy should have been used instead of military threats to end violence in the North African state.
The Venezuelan foreign minister criticized the U.S. and EU officials that have adopted specific policies in order to isolate the Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, bringing up the possibility of providing military support to the Libyans who have rebelled against the colonel leading the country.
Hugo Chavez, the Venezuelan President, claims that international pressure will not make Gaddafi give up the power, and then warned that Washington is getting ready for a military offensive in Libya. American and European officials have not publicly raised the possibility of a military invasion.
“Hopefully in the next few days we create a panel of countries to go to speak to Colonel Gaddafi’s government and the opposition that has seized weapons in some regions”, said Maduro.
Venezuelan opposition to Chavez harshly criticized him for its close relationship with Gaddafi, warning that this will affect Venezuela’s reputation abroad.