TASS, January 6. Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS) Luis Almagro has recognized Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido as legitimate President of the National Assembly.

‘We welcome re-election of Juan Guaido as President of the Venezuelan National Assembly," Luis Almagro blogged in Twitter on Sunday.

"We condemn consistent acts of violence against the National Assembly and reject any usurpation that runs counter to the constitutional order," he tweeted.

Earlier, Luis Parra, who is Guaido’s political rival, declared himself head of the chamber. Part of the opposition rejected his oath of office, saying the session had no necessary quorum. Guaido himself accused the country’s authorities of preventing parliamentarians from entering the building of the National Assembly. In a tweet later, the National Assembly dubbed the developments as a parliamentary coup. President Nicolas Maduro backed Luis Parra as Speaker.

Later, part of the parliamentarians held a session outside the parliament, declaring Guaido as speaker. The US, the European Union and countries of the Lima Group also backed Guaido.

The political crisis in Venezuela exacerbated on January 23, 2019, when 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, most of the EU states, Lima Group members (excluding Mexico), Australia, Albania, Georgia and Israel, as well as the Organization of American States, recognized him as president.

Incumbent President of the country Nicolas Maduro, in turn, blasted the move as a coup staged by Washington and said he was severing diplomatic ties with the US. In contrast, Russia, Belarus, Bolivia, Iran, Cuba, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Syria and Turkey voiced support for Maduro.