A spokesman for the UN Secretary-General called for an independent inquiry into allegations of casualties during the unrest that followed Venezuelan Parliament speaker Juan Guadillo himself as acting president, while Washington renewed its call for OAS governments to recognize Guido as president, "illegal".
"The Secretary-General underscores the urgent need for all parties concerned to engage in credible and comprehensive political dialogue to address the long-standing crisis in the country," UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said in a statement.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo also called on the Organization of American States (OAS) to recognize Juan Guido and warned at an emergency meeting of the organization in Washington of the Maduro regime of "any decision to use violence to suppress peaceful democratic transition" and called on Venezuelan security forces to "protect" Guido.
| Guido declared himself acting president of Venezuela until new elections are held (Reuters) |
US aid
Pompeo rejected Maduro's decision to cut diplomatic relations with Washington, stressing that the United States "does not believe that it has the power to sever relations and will continue relations with a government led by opposition leader Juan Guido."
The US official said Washington was ready to provide more than 20 million dollars in aid to support the people of Venezuela.
In a related context, the United States requested the Security Council to hold an emergency meeting on Saturday to discuss the situation in Venezuela, according to diplomatic sources, but Dmitry Poliansky, Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations said that the rumors about holding an emergency session of the Security Council on Venezuela " "He said.
In addition to the United States, several countries in the Americas have recognized Juan Guido, Brazil, Colombia, Argentina, Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Panama, Paraguay and Peru, while Britain considered Maduro "an illegitimate president," and the European Union fully supported the National Assembly, Which is headed by Guido.
In contrast, Russia, Turkey, Iran, Mexico, Cuba, Bolivia and Greece announced their support for Maduro, while the Vatican committed neutrality, stressing that Pope Francesco, who is currently visiting Panama, "supports all efforts to spare Venezuelans more suffering."
| Venezuelan army says it is behind Maduro in the face of what he called "coup" (Reuters) |
coup
In another context, Venezuelan Defense Minister General Vladimir Badrino considered the declaration of Guido himself as the acting president of the "coup".
"I have alerted the people of Venezuela to a coup against institutions, against democracy, against our Constitution and against President Nicolas Maduro, our legitimate president," Padrinu said at a news conference today, where he was surrounded by senior members of the army command. He vowed that the army "will never accept a president who serves ambiguous interests ... Foreign ".
It is noteworthy that the President of the Venezuelan parliament under the control of the opposition announced itself on Wednesday as Acting President of Venezuela and led the section during a mass demonstration of the opposition in the capital Caracas.
The announcement triggered a wave of violence, with reports of 13 deaths in the capital alone, while pro-opposition demonstrations and supporters of Maduro, who addressed his supporters from the presidential palace balcony, were reported.