La Paz, December 23 (RHC)-- Bolivia has announced its entry into the U.S.-led Lima Group regional bloc that was set up to overthrow the government of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.  The Bolivian foreign ministry said in a statement that it hoped to “contribute to a peaceful, democratic and constitutional solution to the crisis in Venezuela, which must be guided by the Venezuelan people.”

The Lima Group was founded in 2017 by countries including Peru, Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Santa Lucia, Canada, Colombia, Honduras, Costa Rica and Guatemala, with the support of the United States, the Organization of American States and the European Union.

The organization has worked to undermine the peace process in Venezuela by isolating the Bolivarian Republic economically and politically.  Bolivia’s democratically elected president, Evo Morales, had kept his country out of the bloc, but was forced to leave the Andean nation after a coup d'etat in November.

He went first to Mexico and then to Argentina where the new government of Alberto Fernandez has indicated it will give him political asylum.  

Bolivia is currently governed by Jeanine Añez, a former far-right senator and opponent of Morales.  Añez swore-herself in as interim president after Evo Morales resigned.