Macri willing to help Venezuela as much as possible, but there must be free and transparent elections

Argentine President Mauricio Macri said on Thursday at the Davos forum that his country is willing to help Venezuela "as much as possible" but demanded that first free and transparent elections be held in the country.

"[We will help] as much as possible but there must be free and transparent elections as soon as possible," he told AFP, responding to questions about Colombia's proposal to launch an emergency economic plan for Venezuela with international participation.

Colombian Finance Minister Mauricio Cardenas, who is also in Davos, said on Wednesday that the "collapse" of the Venezuelan economy is imminent and called for a plan for "the day after" with the participation of multilateral institutions.

Macri closed on Wednesday a stay of just over a day in Davos, where he multiplied the meetings with big businessmen in order to attract investments for his country.

In a speech before a select group of businessmen and political leaders, Macri said that Argentina has left behind the "populist experiment", in reference to the government of its predecessor Cristina Kirchner.

He also referred to the long and complex trade negotiations between the countries of the European Union and Mercosur, which has been almost two decades in gestation.

"We are close, very close," said Macri, who will meet in Paris on Friday with French President Emmanuel Macron, who he hoped would give him "good news" on that issue.

France is particularly concerned about the impact of the agreement on its farmers and the European unions in the sector are pushing to prevent it from including agricultural products.

Macri also made an optimistic economic balance of his presidency, with an expected growth of 2.5% of GDP in 2018, according to the latest forecasts of the International Monetary Fund.

"Everyone is surprised by the results we achieve in such a short period and we should be grateful for those goals," he said.