"Unfortunately, western capitals failed to learn a lesson from the tragedies of Yugoslavia, Iraq, Libya and Ukraine. Today, political engineering tools are being actively, or rather aggressively and shamelessly, used against Venezuela," the Russian foreign minister stressed, TASS news agency reported.
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.
In contrast, Russia, Belarus, Bolivia, Iran, Cuba, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Syria 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.
On February 4, most of the European Union member states recognized Guaido as Venezuela’s interim president.