Venezuela will be able to resist US-backed coup, says top diplomat

World April 30, 2019, 17:19

The minister tweeted it in response to a post by US National Security Adviser John Bolton who called on Venezuela’s military to side with the opposition

CARACAS, April 30. /TASS/. Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza has accused the Trump administration of staging and supporting the coup in the Bolivarian Republic.

"The leaders of the coup acknowledge their authorship without reservation. The Trump administration is desperately trying to create an internal conflict in Venezuela. Venezuela’s democratic institutions will be able to guarantee peace in the country," he tweeted in response to a Twitter post by US National Security Adviser John Bolton who called on Venezuela’s military to side with the opposition.

Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido earlier posted a video on Twitter urging the country’s military to take to the streets "to do away with the usurpation" in the country. According to Guaido, the video was recorded at the Francisco de Miranda Airbase in Caracas.

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 Caracas on January 23. Several countries, including the United States, Lima Group members (excluding Mexico), as well as the Organization of American States, recognized him as president. Venezuela's incumbent President Nicolas Maduro blasted these actions as an attempted coup and said he was cutting diplomatic ties with the United States.

In contrast, Russia, Belarus, Bolivia, Iran, China, Cuba, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Syria and Turkey voiced support for Maduro.

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