The Venezuelan opposition Juan Guido who declared himself President, challenging the Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
Guido declared “president” received recognitions by the United States and several countries on the continent, while the United Nations called for dialogue and the European Union urged to hold elections.
“Today I officially acknowledge the president of the Venezuelan National Assembly, Juan Guido, as acting president of Venezuela”, President Donald Trump issued a statement on Wednesday.
Washington has maintained very tense relations with Caracas since the arrival of former President Hugo Chavez in power in 1999, and has gradually deteriorated gradually.
“The Venezuelans have long suffered in the hands of the illegal Maduro regime”, Trump said.
Other countries followed Trumps statement, as Brazil’s Foreign Ministry, whose president Jair Bolsonaro constantly says of his hostility to Maduro, said that “it recognizes Juan Guido as president”.
But Brasilia rules out any intervention that Washington doesn’t rule out if Maduro crushed the protest by force.
Trump tweeted that “all options are on the table”.
“Our foreign policy is not to interfere in the internal affairs of other countries”, Brazilian Vice President Hamilton Morao told reporters in Davos, Switzerland.
In addition to Brazil, ten other members of the Lima Group, which condemned the continuing excesses of the Maduro government, recognized Guido.
These are Argentina, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Panama, Paraguay and Peru.
“We support his commitment to lead Venezuela to free and fair elections”, said Canadian Foreign Minister Christia Freeland.
“We’re convinced that the so-called fault + President Maduro is part of the problem and not the solution”, said Chilean President Sebastien Pienera.
Argentine Foreign Minister Jorge Fauri said: “We want the Venezuelans to regain democracy”.
For its part, the European Union called for “free and credible elections under the constitutional order”.
“The Venezuelan people have the right to demonstrate peacefully, to choose their leaders freely and to decide their own future”, said the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs Federica Mogherini, adding that “the
Voice of the people cannot be ignored”.
“We hope that all Europe will be united in supporting democratic forces in Venezuela”, Council President Donald Tusk tweeted.
“Unlike Maduro, the Parliamentary Assembly, including Juan Guido, has a democratic mandate”, he said.
But Maduro can count on support from other countries, notably Cuba.
“We offer our support and solidarity with President Nicolas Maduro in the face of imperialist attempts to distort his image and destabilize the Bolivarian revolution”, President Miguel Diaz-Canell tweeted.
Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez confirmed his “firm support” for Maduro and condemned the move as a “coup attempt”.
This view was also expressed by Bolivian President Evo Morales.
“We consider the United States to be responsible for promoting a coup d’état and for brotherly fighting among the Venezuelans”, he tweeted.
“In democracy it is free people who elect their presidents, not the empire”, he said.
Mexico, ruled by left-wing President Andres Manuel Obrador, has said it still recognizes Maduro as president.
“Under its constitutional forum of non-interference… Mexico will not participate in the process of not recognizing the government of a country with whom it has diplomatic relations anymore”, the Mexican foreign ministry said.
From outside the continent, the Turkish presidency announced that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had phoned Maduro to express his support.
Presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said that the Turkish president told Maduro during the phone call, “Brother Maduro must stay high and Turkey stands by you”.
“We’re all Maduro”, Kalin tweeted, expressing support for the Venezuelan president.
Finally, a spokeswoman for the Venezuelan Foreign Ministry criticized the positions of Western countries on the crisis in Venezuela, saying that this indicates “its position on international law”.
“The events taking place in Venezuela clearly reveal the international community’s progressive position on international law, sovereignty and non-interference in the internal affairs of a country seeking to change power”, Maria Zakharova posted on her Facebook page.
Zakharova wrote her comments from Algeria, where she accompanied Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on a state visit lasting several days in the region.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mouloud Ghawishoglu expressed his surprise at the announcement of Venezuelan Parliament Speaker Juan Guido as president, with an elected president.
“The speaker of parliament is declared president by imposing a fait accompli while there is an elected president”, Ghawishoglu said in a television interview on Thursday. “This is very strange”.
Some Latin American countries and the United States have been constantly interfering in Venezuela’s internal affairs recently, Ghawishoglu said.
Ghawishoglu stressed his country’s opposition to isolating countries and interfering in its internal affairs, expressing Ankara’s concern over what is happening in Caracas today.
“Venezuela is one of the richest countries with natural resources, but unfortunately it has not yet been able to benefit from this wealth, and Turkey tried to support Venezuela economically during the difficult periods experienced by.
On the contact of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan with his Venezuelan counterpart Nicholas Maduro, said Ghawishoglu: “President Erdogan yesterday contacted his Venezuelan counterpart and received information about the latest developments in his country, and confirmed he has Turkey’s strong support for democracy”.
He hoped that Venezuela would be able to overcome this difficult stage and be able to restore security and stability at home.
Ghawishoglu warned that the situation in Venezuela could deteriorate further in the absence of security and stability.
He referred to Turkey’s pursuit of its own responsibility for the security and stability of Venezuela.
On Wednesday, Guido declared himself president of Venezuela, in a move backed by US President Donald Trump, who quickly recognized the latter.
Other States that have supported the President of the Venezuelan Parliament are Canada, Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, Paraguay, Brazil, Chile, Panama, Argentina, Costa Rica and Guatemala.
In turn, the European Union’s representative for foreign affairs and security policy, Federica Mogherini, called for “the initiation of a political process in Venezuela in accordance with the constitutional order, with an urgent conclusion to free and transparent elections”.
In contrast, Russia, Mexico and Bolivia supported Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and considered him the legitimate president of the country.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan also telephoned President Maduro and confirmed his country’s support for him.
In the same context, Venezuelan Defense Minister Vladimir Badrino announced that his country’s army would not recognize Guido’s declaration as president.
Padreino tweeted in his personal Twitter account, on Wednesday, that “the soldiers of the homeland don’t accept a president imposed under the interests of obscure or declared himself president illegally”.
He stressed that the Venezuelan armed forces “defend our Constitution and guarantee national sovereignty”.
Maduro was sworn in a few days ago after winning a new six-year term in a presidential election on May 20, 2018, but his main rivals rejected the election results, saying that it was a “widespread with irregularities”.
The Iranian Foreign Ministry on Thursday expressed its full support for the administration of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro against all external interference and attempted coup.
This came in the words of Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qasimi, who confirmed in a statement, commenting on the announcement by Venezuelan Parliament Speaker Juan Guido, himself as interim president of the country, stressing the stand of his government alongside Venezuela and its people, and Tehran’s rejection of any external interference in the internal affairs of Venezuela.
“Iran opposes all external interference in Venezuela’s internal affairs and stands against coup attempts and policies aimed at harming the Venezuelan people”, he said.
He hoped that all political differences in Venezuela would be resolved by the people and the government of the country.
