Venezuela is pushing back against a decision by a group of South American countries to suspend it from the Mercosur trade bloc.
In a statement released on Friday, Argentina’s foreign ministry said the foreign ministers of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay notified the Venezuelan government of the suspension, citing what they said was Venezuela’s failure to comply with the standards of membership.
But Venezuela’s Foreign Minister Delcy Rodríguez insisted that Venezuela “will continue being a part of” Mercosur. “Venezuela will not recognize this invalid action carried out under the law of the jungle by officials who are destroying Mercosur.”
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro urged Venezuelans in a tweet to stay tuned. “I will inform and lay out our position against the rightist coup plotters against our country,” he said.
The decision to suspend Venezuela comes as conservative governments have taken power in South America and stepped up their criticism of Maduro and his policies. Argentina and Brazil recently spearheaded an effort to prevent Venezuela from assuming the presidency of the trade group.
The rebuke from other South American countries reflects Venezuela’s diminishing regional influence. Maduro is struggling to contain an economic crisis at home that has sparked food shortages and triple-digit inflation. Cash-strapped Venezuela has also reduced the amount of oil it once provided to its political allies at below-market prices.
Venezuela joined Mercosur in 2012, at a time when leftist governments held power in many Latin American countries.
Venezuela’s opposition threatened this week to walk away from Vatican-mediated talks with the government. Opposition leaders have pressed Maduro to release more than 100 political prisoners and discuss a way for a referendum process against the embattled leaders to be allowed to proceed.