A rchive Date
[ 26-01-2019 ]
Category
[ International Relations ]
sub-Categoy
[ Canada ]
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[https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/venezuela-un-session-juan-guaido-pompeo-1.4994285
Venezuelan crisis airs at UN as more countries support Guaido as interim president
Maduro announces military exercises amid opposition leader's move to assume the presidency
The Associated Press · Posted: Jan 26, 2019 6:32 AM ET
Venezuela's political showdown moved to the United Nations on Saturday for a special session held at Washington's request.
The Security Council meeting will pit backers of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro against supporters of the country's self-declared interim leader Juan Guaido.
British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt on Saturday said the U.K. will recognize Guaido as the interim president if fresh elections are not announced for Venezuela within the next eight days.The German government, through a spokesperson posting to Twitter on Saturday, echoed that stance, and France and Spain made similar statements earlier on Saturday.
On Thursday, Maduro announced he will close the country's embassy and consulates in the U.S. after the Trump administration recognized Guaido, who claimed on Wednesday to hold the presidency and vowed to remove Maduro, calling him a "dictator."
Canadian diplomacy at work
Canada is another supporter of Guaido.
Canadian diplomats in Caracas have been quietly working for months with their Latin American counterparts to get the country's opposition parties to coalesce behind Guaido, The Canadian Press has reported. The efforts were made after Guaido, 35, emerged as the one person strong enough to stand against Maduro to end the economic and political spiral that has forced three million Venezuelans from their homes.
The turning point came Jan. 4 when the Lima Group - the bloc that includes Canada and more than a dozen Latin American countries - rejected the legitimacy of Maduro's May 2018 election victory and his looming Jan. 10 inauguration, while recognizing the "legitimately elected" National Assembly, sources say.
"[Canada's approach has] really been in the planning or development stage for several months," said former foreign minister Lloyd Axworthy. "I think focusing on the Lima Group group in particular, it gives a very strong rationale that the volatility and the actions in Venezuela were having a huge instability factor in the surrounding region," Axworthy told CBC on Saturday.
"You have several thousand people a day crossing borders. It really became a question of regional security. I think there were very solid grounds for organizing around that," he said. Canada is listed as one of the 35 countries scheduled to speak at the Security Council meeting.
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was expected to address the Security Council meeting along with Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza and the other council members, which include supporters of both duelling presidents. Pompeo has said he will ask member states to recognize Guaido as Venezuela's interim president:
The Russian ambassador to the UN, Vassily Nebenzia, has said his country will oppose any effort to recognize a replacement for Maduro. Security Council members China and Bolivia are also likely to reject a replacement.
The session focusing on Venezuela's crisis comes a day after Guaido vowed to remain on the streets until his country has a transitional government, while Maduro dug in and accused his opponents of orchestrating a coup.
In clashing news conferences on Friday, Guaido urged his followers to stage another mass protest next week, while Maduro pushed his call for dialogue.
Maduro also said his government is preparing to face a potential armed conflict with its people before the "coup d'état." He announced that military exercises will be held from Feb. 10-15 to make Venezuela "unassailable."
"The conflict may happen, because they have said they are going to put the Marines in Caracas, and they will send them I don't know where, and so, in each city, in each town; [we will have] a defence plan and a reaction plan for combat and victory," he said.
With files from CBC News, Reuters and The Canadian Press
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 World Fact Book (CIA)]]
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