Earlier this week, Mary wrote about the chaos in Venezuela as Juan Guaido Proclaims Himself Interim President, [and the] Military Backs Maduro. At that point, the U.S. and Canada recognized Guaido as Venezuela’s leader.
Since then, Britain, Germany, France, and Spain said that Venezuela must agree to hold elections or they will recognize Guaido as the country’s leader. These countries have given Venezuela eight days to call the elections.
Venezuela’s embattled President Nicolas Maduro rejected an international ultimatum to call elections within eight days and said opposition leader Juan Guaido had violated the country’s constitution by declaring himself leader.Maduro, in an interview with CNN Turk aired on Sunday, also said he was open to dialogue and that meeting U.S. President Donald Trump was improbable but not impossible. The broadcaster dubbed the interview from Spanish into Turkish.. . . . Britain, Germany, France and Spain all said they would recognize Guaido if Maduro failed to call fresh elections within eight days, an ultimatum Russia said was “absurd” and the Venezuelan foreign minister called “childlike.”Washington, Canada most Latin American nations and many European states have labeled Maduro’s second-term election win last May fraudulent.Maduro retains the loyalty of the armed forces, though Venezuela’s top military envoy to the United States on Saturday defected to Guaido.Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan had voiced his support for Maduro in a phone call on Thursday.
On Saturday, U. S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told the UN Security Council that their countries need to “pick a side.”
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told countries at the United Nations on Saturday to “pick a side” on Venezuela, urging them to back Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido and calling for free and fair elections as soon as possible.Pompeo was addressing the 15-member U.N. Security Council, which met at his request after Washington and a string of countries in the region recognized Guaido as head of state and urged Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro to step down.”Now it is time for every other nation to pick a side … Either you stand with the forces of freedom, or you’re in league with Maduro and his mayhem,” Pompeo told the council. “We call on all members of the Security Council to support Venezuela’s democratic transition and interim President Guaido’s role.”
On Sunday, National security adviser John Bolton warned against “Any violence and intimidation against U.S. diplomatic personnel, Venezuela’s democratic leader, Juan Guiado, or the National Assembly itself” and stated that such violence and intimidation would be “be met with a significant response.”
National security adviser John Bolton on Sunday warned of a “significant response” to any violence or intimidation against U.S. diplomats in Venezuela or the country’s current government.“Any violence and intimidation against U.S. diplomatic personnel, Venezuela’s democratic leader, Juan Guiado [sic], or the National Assembly itself would represent a grave assault on the rule of law and will be met with a significant response,” Bolton tweeted.
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