A group consisting of a dozen Latin American countries and Canada has said Venezuela's political turmoil is threatening regional peace and global security, and urged the international community to make a "huge effort to re-establish" democracy in the South American country.

The Lima Group on Tuesday began its 15th meeting in Argentina's capital with a message of support for opposition leader Juan Guaido and a request for democratic elections in Venezuela - a call rejected by President Nicolas Maduro.

"We have to make a great effort to ensure that the restoration of the democratic order in Venezuela is achieved through the call for elections," Argentine Foreign Minister Jorge Faurie said during the meeting in Buenos Aires.

Venezuela was thrust into a political impasse six months ago when Guaido declared himself acting president after branding Maduro a "usurper" because of his "fraudulent" 2018 re-election.

Maduro instead calls Guaido a United States-backed puppet seeking to remove him in a coup.

The Lima Group meeting came as members of the government and opposition representatives were holding talks in Barbados in an attempt to break the stalemate.

"In certain sectors inside the international community, there is this perception that the [government] is using current negotiations as a delaying tactic to gain some time, while they continue to weaken the figure of Guaido," Venezuelan analyst Carlos Pina told Al Jazeera from Caracas.

"As a response, the opposition and its international allies are increasing the pressure to be able to generate an internal change," he added.

In Buenos Aires, Nestor Popolizio, Peru's foreign minister, asked for "urgent and concrete help in the form of international cooperation" to relieve the burden on countries hosting the migrants.

"The crisis is worsening and requires an urgent solution in the form of credible, transparent, free and fair elections," Popolizio said.

A quarter of Venezuela's 30 million people are in need of humanitarian aid, according to the United Nations, while three million have left the country since early 2016.

The regional bloc also called on the UN Security Council to discuss Venezuela after the world body's High Commission for Human Rights released a damning report on Maduro's government

In a UN report released earlier this month, the international body said Venezuelan security forces were sending death squads to murder young men and staged the scenes to make it look like the victims critical of the government resisted arrest.

The report added the killings were part of a strategy by the government aimed at "neutralising, repressing and criminalising political opponents".

"The report from the United Nations High Commission for Human Rights makes it clear that there is no room for any country to continue to support the illegitimate regime of Maduro," Argentina's Faurie said.

"(The Lima Group) urges the UN Security Council to join the Lima Group's commitments and to contribute to the return of the rule of law and democracy in Venezuela."

Maduro's government has rejected the results of the report and has accused UN human rights chief Michelle Bachelet of offering "a selective and openly biased vision" of human rights in Venezuela. </s> The Lima Group on Tuesday said Venezuela's political crisis threatened regional peace and international security, and urged the global community to make a "huge effort to re-establish" democracy in the South American country.

The group of a dozen Latin American countries and Canada helping to mediate the Venezuelan crisis urged the world to push Caracas to hold new presidential elections -- a move socialist leader Nicolas Maduro has refused to consider.

Venezuela was thrust into a political impasse six months ago when opposition leader Juan Guaido declared himself acting president after branding Maduro a "usurper" because of his "fraudulent" 2018 re-election.

Government-opposition talks are stalled as Guaido, recognized by more than 50 countries, is demanding that Maduro step down and hold new elections.

"While a dictator is in power in Venezuela, all our democracies are more fragile," said Argentine Foreign Minister Jorge Faurie at the Lima Group meeting in Buenos Aires.

He said the Venezuelan crisis "threatens regional peace and security" as well as international security.

Most Lima Group members recognize Guaido, who participated by video link.

A quarter of Venezuela's 30 million people are in need of humanitarian aid, according to the United Nations, while three million have left the country since early 2016.

Colombia has taken in 1.3 million Venezuelans while another 768,000 live in Peru.

Nestor Popolizio, Peru's foreign minister, asked for "urgent and concrete help in the form of international cooperation" to relieve the burden on countries hosting the migrants.

"The crisis is worsening and requires an urgent solution in the form of credible, transparent, free and fair elections," Popolizio said.

Separately, Venezuela's opposition-controlled legislature approved re-joining a regional defense treaty that could provide a legal framework for a foreign military intervention.

Venezuela withdrew from the Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance (TIAR) -- a defense pact involving 17 countries including the United States -- seven years ago under the late president Hugo Chavez.

Guaido said that re-joining the treaty would let Venezuela establish "international alliances" to "protect and defend the people and Venezuelan sovereignty," but didn't mention foreign intervention.

The vote however does not necessarily mean Venezuela will be re-join the TIAR.

The National Assembly's decisions are routinely annulled by the Supreme Court, which is filled with Maduro loyalists, and the body has been effectively replaced by the staunchly pro-government Constituent Assembly. </s> MENDOZA, Argentina (Reuters) - The members of South America's Mercosur trade bloc called for an end to violence in Venezuela in a joint statement on Friday, while Brazil and Argentina expressed wariness about following the United States in preparing possible economic sanctions.

Mercosur members Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay again called on Venezuela to release political prisoners and offered to facilitate talks between President Nicolas Maduro's socialist government and the opposition in the statement, issued as the nations met in Mendoza, Argentina to discuss trade and regional integration.

Associate Mercosur members Chile, Colombia and Guyana, as well as Mexico, also signed the statement, which called on both the government and the opposition to "not take any initiative that could divide Venezuelan society even more, or aggravate institutional conflicts."

The statement comes days after U.S. officials said they were preparing sanctions against Venezuelan government figures.

Brazilian Foreign Minister Aloysio Nunes and Argentine Foreign Minister Jorge Faurie told reporters Mercosur countries were hesitant to follow suit.

"None of us are willing to apply any sanctions that will affect, above all, the Venezuelan people," Faurie said.

Nunes said any Mercosur decision would be "autonomous" of U.S. action, and said interruptions of food shipments from Brazil to Venezuela could "aggravate the humanitarian crisis even more."

Venezuela was suspended from Mercosur last December amid concerns about human rights. Since then, four months of anti-government unrest has taken around 100 lives. On Friday, millions joined a 24-hour shutdown as part of a civil disobedience campaign against Maduro.

In April, Argentine President Mauricio Macri warned that Venezuela could be expelled from Mercosur if it did not change its behaviour.

The joint statement did not refer to Maduro's plan to hold a July 30 vote to elect a constituent assembly with powers to rewrite the OPEC nation's constitution. Mexico on Thursday had called on Maduro to shelve the vote.

Bolivia, whose President Evo Morales is one of Maduro's few remaining allies in the region, is in the process of becoming a Mercosur member.

At the meeting, Mercosur members agreed to establish common legal conditions within the bloc to encourage investment and took steps to boost trade ties with the Pacific Alliance countries of Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru.

Mercosur is also eyeing a trade deal with the European Union, which Faurie said could be reached in December. </s> BRASILIA (Reuters) - South American trade bloc Mercosur will trigger its democratic clause this weekend to suspend Venezuela indefinitely and not allow it back until democracy is restored, a Brazilian government source said on Thursday.

The decision will be taken at a meeting of the foreign ministers of Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay and Brazil in Sao Paulo on Saturday, said the official with knowledge of the negotiations.

Mercosur suspended Venezuela temporarily from the bloc in December for not complying with the bloc’s regulations, but the deterioration of the political and human rights situation has led it to take a more definitive stance.

The bloc had planned to decide on applying the democratic clause at year-end, but brought the decision forward following Venezuela’s controversial election of a constituent assembly on Sunday followed by the arrest of several opposition leaders by President Nicolas Maduro’s government.

“The Venezuelan situation has become intolerable,” Argentine Foreign Minister Jorge Faurie told reporters in Montevideo. “For Argentina, it is clear that we have reached a breaking point.”

Argentina warned in July that Mercosur would permanently expel Venezuela if Maduro went ahead with the creation of a national assembly. Countries around the world have condemned the vote, calling it a bid to indefinitely extend Maduro’s rule. His government has been accused of inflating turnout numbers.

Millions in Venezuela are suffering food shortages, soaring inflation and months of anti-government unrest, making it more unlikely that such a high turnout was obtained by the government.

More than 120 people have been killed in the protests, drawing international condemnation of the security forces’ heavy-handed tactics.

Mercosur has no provision for expulsion, but activating the democratic clause adds to the international isolation of the Maduro government because Venezuela can only be readmitted after holding elections that the bloc members view to be democratic.
Through Argentine Foreign Affairs Minister Jorge Faurie, the Lima Group say that "the use of force in Venezuela will be implemented when required".