"Venezuela is open for the world to establish dialogue, a peaceful agreement… I think that we need a regional dialogue and I offer the ALBA [the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America] and the country's leaders, who are present here, to establish a dialogue based on respect for Venezuela," Maduro said at the meeting of Political Council of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America — Peoples' Trade Treaty (ALBA-TCP) in Venezuela's capital of Caracas.
Earlier in the day, the foreign ministers of 17 American nations, including Brazil, Argentina, Canada, Mexico, met in Peru's capital of Lima and issued a joint statement, condemning the "breakdown of democratic order" in Venezuela and claiming that they would not recognize the actions of the National Constituent Assembly, which they considered illegitimate. Commenting on the statement, Maduro stressed that the Organization of American States (OAS) was "failing in its attempts to interfere in Venezuela's affairs."
In late July, following Venezuelan election to the National Constituent Assembly, the United States introduced sanctions against Maduro for "undermining democracy," freezing all his assets subject to US jurisdiction. According to US Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin, Washington is assessing the situation and "considering the possibility" of further sanctions against Maduro and his government. Earlier in the day, ALBA also issued a statement, condemning the economic sanctions against Venezuela as aimed at damaging the country’s government and people and calling for a "constructive and respective dialogue."
ALBA was established in 2004 on the initiative of then Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and Cuban leader Fidel Castro and comprises 11 full-fledged member states, including Bolivia, Cuba, Ecuador, Nicaragua and Venezuela, as well as three observer members and Surinam as a "special guest member."
