Venezuela Supports Cuba's Criticism of EU's Lack of Transparency on EU-CELAC Summit

MEXICO CITY (Sputnik) - Venezuela shares Cuba's criticism of the European Union over manipulative behavior and lack of transparency ahead of the summit between the EU and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yvan Gil has said.

Earlier in the week, Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla said that the EU was jeopardizing the summit, scheduled to take place from July 17-18, by imposing "restrictive and divisive formats" and deciding on its own who will represent the Latin American organization in some of the meetings on the sidelines of the summit.

"The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela resolutely supports complaints by Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla about the lack of transparency and manipulative behavior of the European Union during the organization of the third EU-CELAC summit in Brussels from July 17-18 that seriously undermines success of the meeting," Gil tweeted on Tuesday.

In particular, Venezuela believes the EU displayed a lack of transparency as regards a number of parallel events expected to be held on the sidelines of the summit without the agreement with Latin American governments, a statement published by Gil on Twitter read.

At the same time, CELAC has significantly contributed to a democratic and inclusive format of the upcoming event that would allow the two sides to improve mutually beneficial cooperation, it added.

CELAC is a regional intergovernmental organization founded in 2010 aimed at improving integration among Latin American and Caribbean countries. The organization includes 33 member states.