International Conference on the Situation in Venezuela

The conference was jointly sponsored by the governments of Mexico and Uruguay; other participating countries included Bolivia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Panama, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom, forming the International Contact Group on Venezuela.

[1][2][3] Mexico and Uruguay declined to support the position taken by other Mercosur and Lima Group states, which recognized Guaidó's claim to the acting presidency made by Venezuela's National Assembly.

[5] According to France24, participating states – in addition to Mexico and Uruguay – would include France, the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Bolivia, Costa Rica, and Ecuador.

[8] Questioning why Uruguay has taken a position on Venezuela different than the majority of Latin American countries in the Lima Group, critics of Uruguayan president Tabaré Vázquez say he has a conflict in the Venezuelan matter, as his son, Javier Vázquez, is alleged to have made millions of dollars in Venezuelan deals with Chavismo, according to Jorge Castañeda Gutman, Mexico's Foreign Relations Secretary under President Vicente Fox.

[15] Offering as examples Leopoldo López, the detention of Juan Requesens, Julio Borges (in exile) and others, he says if Maduro really wanted dialogue, he would release political prisoners.

[15] In an appeal to Uruguay and Mexico, he asked those countries to join him, and said he refused to participate in negotiations whose aim is to maintain in power those who commit human rights violations.

[8] The day before the conference, on 6 February, the United States and 20 other nations convened a separate meeting in Ottawa, Canada, in which they issued a joint declaration reaffirming their recognition of Guaidó's claim to the acting Venezuelan presidency.