WASHINGTON, January 29. / TASS /. The United States has given permission to Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido, whom Washington recognizes as acting president of Venezuela, to gain control over some of its government and central bank assets that are in the accounts of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and other US banks, said deputy head of the US State Department Press Service, Robert Palladino in a statement on Tuesday.
"This certification will help the legitimate Venezuelan government to protect these assets for the benefit of Venezuelans," the statement said. "We urge other governments to recognize Juan Guaido as acting president and take similar steps to protect the heritage of Venezuela from further theft from the corrupt regime of [current President Nicholas ] Maduro. " On January 23, Guaido, whose appointment as speaker of parliament two days earlier, was annulled by the Supreme Court of Venezuela, declared himself the acting president of the country. On the same day, the United States recognized him as interim head of state, after which Maduro described the incident as an attempted coup and announced the severance of diplomatic relations with the United States.
Soon, interim President of Venezuela Guaido was recognized by the countries of the Lima Group (with the exception of Mexico), the Organization of American States, Australia, Albania, Georgia and Israel. Spain, France, Germany, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands declared on January 26 that they would recognize Guaido as interim president if Maduro did not announce the holding of elections within eight days. Russia, Belarus, Bolivia, Iran, Cuba, Nicaragua, El Salvador and Turkey expressed their support for Maduro.