“All of Venezuela, in a civic-military union, repudiates and rejects the statements of Donald Trump about a supposed quarantine, a supposed blockade,” Maduro said adding that Venezuelan seas would remain “free and independent.” The Venezuelan president said he had asked the country’s ambassador to the United Naitons Samuel Moncada to denounce the US threats to the UN Security Council, Tass News Agency reported.
Venezuela faces a massive economic crisis which is further exacerbated by US sanctions. In a letter to UN High Commissioner on Human Rights Michelle Bachelet, Maduro said that the United States stripped Venezuela of its oil assets worth $30 bln. Moreover, over $7 bln in banks meant for purchasing food and medicines, were frozen or seized, Maduro added. The Venezuelan Foreign Ministry described US sanctions as “economic terrorism” that “deprives Venezuelan people of their right to have access to food.”
Juan Guaido, Venezuelan opposition leader and speaker of the National Assembly, whose appointment to that position had been canceled by the country’s Supreme Court, declared himself interim president at a rally in the country’s capital, Caracas, on January 23. On the same day, the United States recognized him as an interim president, and the countries of the Lima Group (excluding Mexico) and the Organization of American States followed suit. Venezuela’s incumbent President Nicolas Maduro blasted the move as an attempted coup and announced cutting diplomatic ties with the United States.
Most European Union member states recognized Guaido as Venezuela’s interim president. Russia, Belarus, Bolivia, Iran, China, Cuba, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Syria and Turkey voiced support for Maduro.
- source : Mehrnews
