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(CARACAS, Venezuela) – Venezuela has defused a possible confrontation with the United States, suspending the demand of US diplomats to leave the country, while Washington has called on the world to "take sides" in the country's rapid crisis south American.
Socialist President Nicolas Maduro broke off relations with the United States on Wednesday after the Trump government and many other countries in the region recognized opposition leader Juan Guaido as acting president of Venezuela , which Maduro had called an attempted coup d'etat.
Maduro gave the US diplomats three days to leave the country, but the Trump administration said it would not obey, saying Maduro was no longer the legitimate president of Venezuela. This paved the way for a confrontation in the US embbady compound at the top of a hill on Saturday night when the deadline was due to expire.
As the sun set on the Venezuelan capital, the Foreign Ministry announced in a statement that the Maduro government was suspending the eviction to allow 30 days to negotiate with the US authorities for the implementation. place of a "US state". "Office of Interests" in Venezuela and a similar office in Venezuela in the United States. The United States and Cuba have had a similar arrangement for decades before the Obama administration reinstated diplomatic relations with the communist-led island.
The State Department has not confirmed the stories of the Venezuelan government, recalling only that the safety of its personnel remains its priority and that it does not intend to close its embbady.
Earlier Saturday Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told the US Security Council: "Let's be 100% clear – President Trump and I hope our diplomats will continue to benefit from the protections provided by the Vienna. Do not test the United States on our determination to protect our people. "
At the meeting of the Security Council, detractors and supporters of the Maduro government became aware of the deep divisions of the world over Venezuela, plunged into political clashes and economic collapse that forced millions to flee. the country.
During the debate, at the request of the United States, Pompeo urged all nations to end the "nightmare" of Venezuela and support Guaido.
"The time has come for all other nationals to choose a camp," said Pompeo. "No more delays, no more games. Either you stand with the forces of freedom, or you are in league with Maduro and his chaos. "
Russian Ambbadador Vbadily Nebenzia said the Trump administration was trying to "organize a coup" against Maduro. He said Venezuela was not threatening international peace and security, and accused the "extremist opponents" of the Maduro government of having chosen the "maximum confrontation", including the artificial creation of a parallel government.
Nebenzia asked Pompeo to say whether the United States would use military force.
Pompeo then told reporters who asked for an answer, "I will not speculate on what the US will do next."
Pompeo was accompanied in New York by Elliott Abrams, named a day earlier Special Representative of the United States for Venezuela. Abrams is a former deputy secretary of state for Latin America who worked at the White House when a 2002 coup in Venezuela briefly ousted Maduro's predecessor, the late Hugo Chavez.
On his first day of work, Abrams met with Venezuelan opposition leaders exiled. He also spoke by telephone with Guaido, president of the opposition-controlled Venezuela Congress. Abrams has reaffirmed US support for Guaido as interim president, said Kimberly Breier, the current deputy secretary of state for the region.
The Security Council, the most powerful body in the United States, has not reacted to the Venezuelan crisis because of divisions. The five permanent members of the Security Council holding the veto could not unite behind a statement on Venezuela with widely differing texts.
The leaders of two of these Council member countries – France and Britain – have joined Spain and Germany to increase pressure on Maduro, saying they would follow the United States and other countries in Guaido recognition as president, unless Venezuela triggers a new presidential election within eight days.
Federica Mogherini, head of the EU's foreign policy, said that if no new elections are announced in the coming days, the bloc of 28 countries "will take further steps, especially with regard to the recognition of leaders from the country".
Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza rejected the deadline.
"Europe gives us eight days?", He asked the council. "Where do you find that you have the power to establish a deadline or an ultimatum to a sovereign people? It's almost childish.
Arreaza asked someone to show him where, in Venezuela's constitution, an individual can proclaim himself president.
Guaido says he is acting in accordance with two articles of the constitution that give the president of the National Assembly the right to temporarily retain power and to call new elections.
While the council debated, a man identifying himself as Venezuela's military attache in Washington posted a video in which he said he broke up with Maduro and would now report to Guaido.
"The armed forces have a fundamental role to play in restoring democracy," said Colonel Jose Luis Silva in the video, allegedly shot in his office at the Venezuelan Embbady in Washington, sitting in front of the national flag, blue and yellow flag.
He called on other members of the military to join him in supporting Guaido, saying that they must avoid "attacking" protesters whose sole purpose is to feed themselves.
Guaido celebrated Silva's decision to defect.
"We welcome him to all those who honestly want to respect the constitution and the will of the Venezuelan people," he said on social media, after attending a small meeting in Caracas to discuss the next steps in the process. # 39; opposition.
Garrett Marquis, spokesperson for the US National Security Council, urged others to follow Silva's example "to protect the constitutional order and not to support dictators and repress his own people.
Senior Venezuelan commanders have pledged to remain loyal to the Maduro government when Guaido declared himself acting leader, alleging that Maduro's re-election was fraudulent – a claim supported by the United States, the European Union and many Latin American countries.
But support for the Maduro regime is weaker among the core military, whose households suffer from widespread food shortages and hyperinflation comparable to that of their civilian counterparts. Last week, a small unit of the National Guard stole a stock of weapons as part of Maduro 's ousting attempt. The insurgency was repressed and 25 guards were arrested.
The confrontation has plunged troubled Venezuela into a new chapter of political turmoil that, according to human rights groups, has already claimed more than two dozen deaths as thousands of people take to the streets to demand the resignation of Maduro.
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