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Russian diplomat says US had Venezuelan coup plot in store well in advance

MOSCOW, January 31. /TASS/. Big global players’ refusal to accept US plans to stage a crisis in Venezuela made it possible to prevent a negative scenario in the country, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Thursday.

"The United States made a plan to quickly change the situation in Venezuela a long time ago," she pointed out. "If not for resistance inside Venezuela, as well as from a number of global players, who expressed reluctance to accept such a plan, I think, the situation would have taken a negative turn long ago," Zakharova added.

Political upheaval rocks Venezuela

On January 23, Juan Guaido, Venezuelan opposition leader and parliament speaker, 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. Maduro, in turn, blasted the move as a coup staged by Washington and said he was severing diplomatic ties with the US.

Meanwhile, Spain, France, Germany, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands said that they would recognize Guaido as Venezuela’s interim president unless Maduro called elections by February 3.

In contrast, Russia, Belarus, Bolivia, Iran, Cuba, Nicaragua, El Salvador 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.