OAS to Hold Meeting on Venezuelan Crisis on May 31

MEXICO CITY (Sputnik) — The Organization of American States (OAS) will hold a meeting of OAS foreign ministers to discuss the political crisis in Venezuela on May 31, media reported Tuesday.

The decision to hold a meeting was undertaken on Monday at a meeting of the OAS Permanent Council in Washington. A total of 18 OAS members voted in favor, Nicaragua voted against, 13 participants abstained from voting, and two countries’ representatives were absent, the Globovision television network reported.

In late April, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro declared that he was pulling the nation out of the regional bloc after its governing body voted in favor of calling an urgent meeting of OAS foreign ministers to discuss the political crisis in Venezuela. On April 29, Venezuela handed a letter on its withdrawal to the secretary general of the organization. The process of withdrawal takes two years, but Maduro said the process would be sped up.

Protests have been sweeping Venezuela since April 4 in the wake of the top court's decision to curb the powers of the National Assembly controlled by the opposition. Despite the reversal of the controversial decision supporters of the opposition took to streets demanding the resignation of the judges and a snap election.