Member states of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America denounce Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido’s call on the country’s military to support protests against President Nicolas Maduro, the Alliance said in a statement that Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza posted on Twitter.
“Countries of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America strongly denounce attempts to undermine the constitutional order in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela,” the statement reads. The organization called on the international community to respond to the coup attempt in Venezuela and assess the possible consequences of the situation.
The Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America is an association of the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean, which was established on December 14, 2004, at the initiative of late Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. The Alliance’s members include Venezuela, Cuba, Bolivia, Nicaragua, Antigua and Barbuda, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Saint Lucia, Grenada, Dominica and Saint Kitts and Nevis.
Earlier on Tuesday, Guaido posted a video on Twitter, calling on the Venezuelan military to take to the streets to end the “usurpation.” He claimed that the video had been recorded at the Francisco de Miranda airbase in Caracas. The video shows Guaido, a group of army officers and leader of the Voluntad Popular (or Popular Will) opposition party Leopoldo Lopez, who is currently under house arrest.
Situation in Venezuela
On January 23, Venezuelan parliament speaker Juan Guaido, whose appointment to that position had been cancelled by the country’s Supreme Court, declared himself interim president at a rally in the country’s capital of Caracas.
Several countries, including the United States, Lima Group members (excluding Mexico), Australia, Albania, Georgia and Israel, as well as the Organization of American States, recognized him. Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, in turn, blasted the move as a coup staged by Washington and said he was severing diplomatic ties with the US. On February 4, most of the European Union member states recognized Guaido as Venezuela’s interim president.
In contrast, Russia, Belarus, Bolivia, Iran, Cuba, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Syria and Turkey voiced support for Maduro, while China called for resolving all differences peacefully and warned against foreign interference. The United Nations secretary general, in turn, called for dialogue to resolve the crisis.
TASS
