MOSCOW, March 1 -- Moscow believes the United States may launch a military intervention in Venezuela disregarding the position of Latin American countries. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said this at a joint press conference following talks with Venezuelan Executive Vice President Delcy Rodriguez on Friday. According to the Russian top diplomat, apart from several US allies, there is not a single country that supports plans of a military intervention in Venezuela. "Everyone, including Venezuela’s neighboring countries, has made statements saying they neither support nor share this approach," Lavrov pointed out. "I must admit that given the current US administration’s ways, everything is possible," he stressed. "I don’t rule out that the US administration may once again take actions in defiance of all international norms," he added.
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CARACAS, February 23 -- The first aid shipment from the United States has passed into Venezuela despite efforts by forces loyal to President Nicolas Maduro, according to Juan Guaidó, the country's self-declared interim leader. Guaidó announced the successful border crossing of the first aid truck Saturday morning on his Twitter account, calling it a "great achievement" according to a translation. "Attention Venezuela! We officially announce that the first shipment of humanitarian aid has already entered our border with Brazil. This is a great achievement, Venezuela!" he wrote. ¡Atención Venezuela! Anunciamos oficialmente que YA ENTRÓ el primer cargamento de ayuda humanitaria por nuestra frontera con Brasil. ¡Esto es un gran logro, Venezuela! ¡Seguimos! #23FAvalanchaHumanitaria — Juan Guaidó (@jguaido) February 23, 2019 The remaining convoy of trucks was headed to the border of Venezuela as of 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, according to The Associated Press. The interim leader, who previously led Venezuela's National Assembly, called on allies of Maduro's predecessor Hugo Chavez on Saturday to join his cause and support his government over that of Maduro. "This fight is for everyone and for all Venezuelans. I want to make a special call to the people of Chavez and those who were close to join the Constitution, the democratic coexistence and the welfare of all," he added in a second tweet: Esta lucha es de todos y por todos los venezolanos. Quiero hacerle un especial llamado al pueblo chavista y a quienes estuvieron cerca a que se sumen al lado de la constitución, de la convivencia democrática y el bienestar para todos. pic.twitter.com/grB6UFfm4T — Juan Guaidó (@jguaido) February 23, 2019 The announcement comes just a day after a violent clash on Venezuela's border with Colombia resulted in the deaths of two indigenous people at the hands of Maduro's troops, according to a local mayor, as well as other injuries to protesters angry at Maduro's closure of the border over Guaidó's efforts to bring humanitarian aid into the country. Maduro has stated that the aid trucks are part of an effort led by the U.S. to support a coup against his government, and has refused to step down. The White House urged Maduro on Friday to allow aid to "peacefully" enter the country. "Egregious violation of human rights by Maduro and those who are following his orders will not go unpunished. The United States strongly urges the Venezuelan military to uphold its constitutional duty to protect the citizens of Venezuela. The Venezuelan military must allow humanitarian aid to peacefully enter the country. The world is watching," press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said. CARACAS, February 22 -- President Nicolas Maduro has ordered the closure of Venezuela's border with Brazil "until further notice" amid a tense standoff with the US-backed opposition leader, Juan Guaido, over allowing in humanitarian aid. The border with Brazil would be "completely and absolutely" closed from 8pm (00:00 GMT) onwards, Maduro said in a televised address on Thursday. The embattled leader said he was also considering a "total closure of the border with Colombia", where he has already ordered the military to barricade a major border bridge to prevent aid from entering the country from the Colombian border town of Cucuta where supplies are being stockpiled, most of it from the United States. Calling the aid a "provocation" and a "child's game", Maduro suggested it was a precursor to a US military intervention in the oil-rich, but economically crippled the Latin American country. "[The US] aimed to generate a huge national mess, but they didn't succeed. The country wants peace," he said, surrounded by members of the military. CARACAS, February 20 -- Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has said that he was confident that countries across the world would support the Bolivarian Republic in the event of a US military invasion. "If Venezuela is attacked by the US empire, the peoples of the world will rise up and begin fighting it together," he said addressing medical university graduates on Tuesday. Maduro’s speech was broadcast live over his Twitter account. The nation’s leader stressed that Venezuela had found itself in the epicenter of a political standoff between the US, which is taking "aggressive, unilateral and imperial actions" and those who advocate "a multilateral democratic approach based on accord, harmony and dialogue between peoples throughout the world." On February 18, during his speech at Florida International University in Miami, US President Donald Trump said that Washington was considering all options to resolve the domestic political crisis in Venezuela. 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 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. MOSCOW, February 12 -- Venezuela’s authorities are not isolated and have backing from influential allies amid the crisis in the Latin American country, head of the Operational Strategic Command (CEOFAN) of the National Bolivarian Armed Forces of Venezuela Remigio Ceballos said. "We are not in isolation, we have influential allies," Ceballos said. There are "more than 180 countries that support Venezuela in the current situation" in the country, he said. Ceballos admitted that there are states in the Western Hemisphere that "exert influence and threaten Venezuela through diplomatic channels." Ceballos also affirmed that the National Bolivarian Armed Forces of Venezuela are concentrated around the country’s president, Nicolas Maduro. There is no chaos in the army, despite the appeals of the opposition for the army not to recognize the legitimate head of state and side with his political opponents. 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. Incumbent Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, in turn, blasted the move as a coup staged by Washington and said he was severing diplomatic ties with the US. Several European countries delivered the ultimatum to hold an early presidential election and after its expiration recognized Guaido as interim president. In contrast, Russia, Belarus, Bolivia, Iran, Cuba, Nicaragua, El Salvador and Turkey voiced support for Maduro. MOSCOW, February 11 -- Moscow has castigated Washington’s drive to push the Venezuelan military into swtiching their oath of allegiance as blatant interference in Venezuela’s affairs. "As Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said once, ‘the Mueller commission [the commission of US Special Counsel Robert Mueller probing Russia’s alleged meddling in the US presidential elections] is simply nothing compared to that," the diplomat stressed. "This is because the direct appeal by a foreign state to the armed forces of another country, no matter what form it may take, for the purpose of altering the position and the oath of allegiance, is plainly unimaginable meddling in the internal affairs of a foreign state," he stressed. "Our American partners are not thinking along these lines now. They are contemplating only [about the interference] as it applies to themselves," the Russian diplomat added. When asked about any contacts being planned with Venezuela, the diplomat answered: "We constantly maintain contacts with the Venezuelan authorities in a normal, working regime." The Reuters news agency earlier reported, citing a US White House spokesperson that Washington was maintaining contacts with some Venezuelan military officers in order to overthrow the incumbent authorities in Caracas and prepare new sanctions. CARACAS, February 5 -- Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro denounced the statement made by US President Donald Trump that it was possible to deploy servicemen to Venezuela as madness. "Speaking of a war in the 21st century is madness. Even the thought that you will send your army to the soil that has people to protect it is madness, Mr Trump," he said during a speech in the Venezuelan Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which was broadcast on Twitter. On Sunday, Trump stated that he does not rule out the possibility of using the American armed forces in Venezuela. 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 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. CARACAS, February 2 -- Venezuela President Nicolas Maduro has proposed holding early elections for the National Assembly as he seeks to outmanoeuvre a renewed opposition that is trying to use its control of the legislature to challenge his rule. Maduro said in a speech to supporters on Saturday (Sunday NZT) it would be up to the pro-government constitutional assembly to decide whether or not to back his proposal. Elections for the opposition-controlled National Assembly aren't supposed to take place again until 2020. National Assembly President Juan Guaido is leading a charge to force Maduro from power after he took the oath of office last month for a second, six-year term widely considered illegitimate. Meanwhile, the opposition leader says humanitarian assistance will begin flowing into the crisis-hit country within the next few days, despite the objections of Maduro. Guaido made the announcement as tens of thousands of cheering supporters took to the streets of Caracas demanding that Maduro step down from power. Guaido said supplies of badly needed food and medicine will start entering from the Colombian border town of Cucuta. He said assistance will also come from two more unnamed entry points. Loyalists of Maduro's socialist government flooded the streets in a different part of the capital to celebrate 20 years since Hugo Chavez launched the Bolivarian revolution. NEW YORK, February 1 -- The administration of social network Twitter announced in its statement on late Thursday that it registered attempts to influence mid-term elections in the United States in 2018 by means of accounts, which allegedly originated from Russia, Iran and Venezuela. The statement said that after a thorough analysis of the activities on the social network during the elections, attempts were registered to convince Americans against voting, however, most of the Tweets originated in the United States. "… we removed content that attempted to influence an election by deterring groups of eligible voters, particularly through voter intimidation or providing false information about voting or registering to vote," the statement reads. "The number of problematic examples was relatively small. We took action on nearly 6,000 Tweets we identified as attempted voter suppression, much of which originated here in the United States." The document states that "In contrast to 2016, we identified much less platform manipulation from bad-faith actors located abroad." "That said, as part of our ongoing review we found limited operations that have the potential to be connected to sources within Iran, Venezuela, and Russia," the statement reads. "The majority of these accounts were proactively suspended in advance of Election Day due to the increasingly robust nature of our technology and internal tooling for identifying platform manipulation." Twitter also added in its statement that "In September 2018, Jack Dorsey testified on Capitol Hill on recent activities affiliated with the Russian Internet Research Agency (IRA), disclosing that Twitter had suspended a total of 3,843 accounts." "Our ongoing efforts have uncovered an additional 418 accounts. We cannot render definitive attribution to the IRA for these accounts, although most appear to originate in Russia, and much of the behavior mimics the activity of prior accounts tied to the IRA," the statement added. GENEVA, February 1 -- A UN human rights expert expressed grave concern Thursday after the U.S. imposed sanctions on Venezuela’s state-owned oil company. "I am especially concerned to hear reports that these sanctions are aimed at changing the government of Venezuela," Special Rapporteur Idriss Jazairy said in a written statement. Jazairy said the sanctions could trigger a health crisis. "Sanctions which can lead to starvation and medical shortages are not the answer to the crisis in Venezuela," he said. He noted that the crisis in Venezuela won't be solved by sanctions. "Precipitating an economic and humanitarian crisis…is not a foundation for the peaceful settlement of disputes," he said. Jazairy called for compassion for the Venezuelan people. He also called on the international community to engage in constructive dialogue with Venezuela to resolve the problem. On Monday, the U.S. imposed sanctions on Venezuela's state-owned oil firm PDVSA and its U.S. subsidiary Citgo to pressure President Nicolas Maduro to step down. Venezuela crisis The South American country has been rocked by protests since Jan. 10 when Maduro was sworn in for a second term following a vote boycotted by the opposition. Tensions rose when opposition leader Juan Guaido declared himself acting president on Jan. 23. Among those recognizing Guaido’s claim were the U.S., Brazil, Argentina, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Panama, Paraguay and the Organization of American States. Bolivia and Mexico continued to recognize Maduro. Russia, China and Iran also support Maduro, as does Turkey. European heavyweights Britain, Germany, France and Spain have called on Maduro to announce fresh elections to ease the crisis. CARACAS, January 31 -- Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has said that a group of military deserters fled to Colombia in order to conspire to sow discord in the Venezuelan armed forces. "A group of military deserters that became mercenaries for Colombian oligarchy are conspiring from Columbia to sow discord among [Venezuelan] armed forces," Maduro told servicemen before military drills on Wednesday. Venezuelan Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez said on Tuesday that Venezuelan military recognize Maduro as the only legitimate president of the country. On January 23 Venezuelan National Assembly Speaker Juan Guaido proclaimed himself as the country's acting president. Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has described it as a coup attempt and announced severing diplomatic relations with the United States. On January 29 the US Treasury announced imposing sanctions on PDVSA (Petroleos de Venezuela) oil and gas company and blocking $7 billion in assets. Guaido was recognized as interim president by the Lima Group countries (except for Mexico), as well as by Albania, Georgia, the United States, and the Organization of American States. Several EU countries came forward with support for the Venezuelan parliament and expressed hope for new elections to resolve the crisis. Maduro was supported by Russia, Bolivia, Iran, Cuba, Nicaragua, El Salvador and Turkey. Belarus and China called for resolving all issues by peaceful means and spoke against any interference from the outside. The UN secretary general called for dialogue to resolve the crisis. MOSCOW, January 30 -- Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said Wednesday he was ready to sit down for talks with the country’s opposition and is open to the possibility of third countries mediating. RIA released his comments as the struggle for control of Venezuela intensified, with the government preparing an investigation that could lead to the arrest of opposition leader and self-declared interim president Juan Guaido, who has called for new street protests. Venezuela was plunged into political turmoil last week after the United States recognized Guaido, 35, as acting president, while Russia has continued to back Maduro. “I am ready to sit at the negotiation table with the opposition for us to talk for the benefit of Venezuela, for the sake of peace and its future,” RIA quoted Maduro as saying. Maduro made the comments in an interview to Russia’s RIA news agency in Caracas released on Wednesday. Asked about the possibility of third countries mediating in the standoff, Maduro was quoted as saying: “There are several governments, organizations globally, which are demonstrating their sincere concern about what is happening in Venezuela, they have called for a dialogue.” CARACAS, January 25 -- Wednesday saw violent protests in Venezuela's capital Caracas against President Nicolas Maduro, who accused Washington of attempting to stage a coup in his country and moved to cut off diplomatic ties with the United States. Venezuelan ambassador to Syria Jose Gregorio Biomorgi Muzzatiz has compared the current events in his country with the situation in Syria in 2011, referring to the "same scenario". He noted that although the Venezuelan opposition uses such terms as democracy, it nevertheless does not recognise the legitimately elected president and has nominated an "unknown" candidate. He added that all state institutions in Venezuela are working in a routine mode and that the situation on the whole is "normal" and that the authorities have everything under under control. Muzzatiz was echoed by Chargé d'Affaires of the Venezuelan embassy in Serbia Dia Nader de El-Andari, who argued that the current crisis in Venezuela has been endorsed by the United States, with the support of the European Union, in line with the model of Libya and Syria. The Lebanon-based militant group Hezbollah, in turn, said in a statement that it "strongly condemns the US intervention and is totally against a coup attempt against the legitimate government [of Venezuela] initiated by the United States". The group stressed that the decision by several nations, including the United States, to recognise opposition leader Guaido as the Venezuelan President does not make him the legitimate head of the country. Earlier, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro cut off diplomatic ties with the United States, accusing it of attempting to stage a coup in Caracas, while Washington, in turn, urged him to step down. On Wednesday, at least two people reportedly died in Wednesday's violent protests against Maduro, which came amid the opposition's support for self-proclaimed interim President Juan Guaido. Apart from the US, Guaido was recognised by a number of countries, including Canada, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Georgia, Guatemala, Honduras, Panama, Paraguay, and Peru. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, for his part, stressed that recent events in Venezuela were a gross violation of the country's sovereignty and blamed the United States for interfering. Bahram Qassemi, spokesman for the Iranian Foreign Ministry, in turn pointed out that "Iran opposes any interference into the internal affairs of Venezuela, as well as illegal and unconstitutional steps, such as an attempted coup, and supports the government and people of this country." CARACAS, January 24 -- Venezuela's crisis quickly escalated Wednesday as an opposition leader backed by the Trump administration declared himself interim president in a direct challenge to embattled socialist Nicolas Maduro, who retaliated by breaking off relations with the United States, his biggest trade partner. For the past two weeks, ever since Maduro took the oath for a second six-year term in the face of widespread international condemnation, the newly invigorated opposition had been preparing for nationwide demonstrations Wednesday coinciding with the anniversary marking the end of Venezuela's last military dictatorship in 1958. While Maduro has shown no signs of leaving, his main rival, National Assembly President Juan Guaido, upped the ante by declaring himself interim president before masses of anti-government demonstrators — the only way, he said, to rescue Venezuela from "dictatorship." Outside the capital, seven demonstrators were killed amid disturbances during protests that rocked several cities. In a seemingly coordinated action, the U.S. led a chorus of Western hemisphere nations, including Canada, Brazil, Argentina and Colombia, that immediately recognized Guaido, with President Donald Trump calling on Maduro to resign and promising to use the "full weight" of the U.S. economic and diplomatic power to push for the restoration of Venezuela's democracy. "The people of Venezuela have courageously spoken out against Maduro and his regime and demanded freedom and the rule of law," Trump said in a statement. The stunning move, which to some harkened back to dark episodes of heavy-handed U.S. interventions in Latin America during the Cold War, drew a strong rebuke from Maduro. He responded by swiftly cutting off diplomatic relations with the United States, the biggest importer of the OPEC nation's oil, giving American diplomats 72 hours to leave the country. "Before the people and nations of the world, and as constitutional president. .... I've decided to break diplomatic and political relations with the imperialist U.S. government," Maduro thundered while holding up a decree banning the diplomats before a crowd of red-shirted supporters gathered at the presidential palace. "Don't trust the gringos," he said, rattling off a long list of U.S.-backed military coups — Guatemala, Chile, Brazil — in decades past. "They don't have friends or loyalties. They only have interests, guts and the ambition to take Venezuela's oil, gas and gold." CUCUTA, December 27 -- The Colombian border city of Cucuta is virtual chaos - as "Rail-thin women cradle their tiny babies, and beg along the trash-strewn gutters. Teens hawk everything from cigarettes to sweets and water for small change." The young, the old and the disabled cluster around the lone Western Union office – recently established to deal with the Venezuelan influx – in the hopes of receiving or sending a few dollars to send home. Without passports or work permits, the Venezuelans – many with university degrees or decent jobs in what was once the wealthiest nation in Latin America – are now resorting to whatever it takes to survive. Men buying hair approach groups of women with their young children, offering them enough to feed their families for a short while. Local wigmakers in Colombia will pay between $10 - $30, depending on length and quality. Other Venezuelan women - including girls as young as 14, resort to sex work on the streets of Cucuta - earning around seven dollars per john. Both men and women are exposed to sex trafficking along the route from Venezuela to Colombia. According to several walkers, some women “chose” prostitution as a means to make money and earn rides along the way. And some heterosexual men “sell themselves on the gay market” for a little money. Other women are manipulated or forced into giving “pimp types” their documents and identification cards, and are subsequently drawn into prostitution rings. That's particularly the case in border areas, where many rebel and drug-trafficking groups operate. Back home in Venezuela, the situation is dire - as the socialist country suffers from starvation, disease, a lack of health care and extreme violence. Children have been dying from hepatitis and malaria. "There is a human catastrophe in Venezuela. There is a resurgence of illnesses that were eradicated decades ago. Hundreds have died from measles and diphtheria. Last year, more than 400,000 Venezuelans presented malaria symptoms. Up to now, there are over 10,000 sick people from tuberculosis," said Caracas mayor and former political prisoner Antonio Ledezma, adding: "People have been doomed to death. More than 55,000 cancer patients don’t have access to chemotherapy. Every three hours a woman dies due to breast cancer." Caterine Martinez, an attorney, and director of the Prepara Familias (Ready Families) organization in Venezuela – which endeavors to support hospitalized children and their families and caregivers – concurred that the public health care issue in the country is nothing short of “severe.” “Currently there are no broad-spectrum antibiotics, not even basic antibiotics to treat basic pathogens from children and present chronic illnesses,” she said. “We don’t have x-rays working, they haven’t for a long time. We don’t have a CAT scanner or an MRI scanner. Many other vital medical instruments don’t work. The municipal blood banks don’t have reagents, therefore we have kids who are getting blood transfusions and are getting infected with hepatitis C and could even be injected with HIV.” |
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