Iran Press/America: "Russia, China, South Africa and Equatorial Guinea blocked a US push for a UN Security Council statement to back Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido, expressing full support for Venezuela’s National Assembly as the country’s “only democratically elected institution.”
According to Tasnim News Agency, China’s UN Ambassador Ma Zhaoxu said: “China does not interfere in other countries internal affairs. We hope the country that accuses others can do likewise itself.”
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China says Venezuela's affairs must be decided by its own people
Also, Russia’s UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia called the eight day ultimatum “absurd.”
“We strongly condemn those who are pushing the Venezuelan society to the edge of a bloodbath. The US are painting a picture of a confrontation between Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and the people of Venezuela. This picture is far from reality,” Nebenzia told the Security Council.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told countries at the United Nations on Saturday to “pick a side” on Venezuela, urging them to back Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido and calling for free and fair elections as soon as possible.
Pompeo was addressing the 15-member UN Security Council, which met at his request after Washington and a string of countries in the region recognized Guaido as head of state and urged Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro to step down.
“Now it is time for every other nation to pick a side ... Either you stand with the forces of freedom, or you’re in league with Maduro and his mayhem,” Pompeo told the council.
“We call on all members of the Security Council to support Venezuela’s democratic transition and interim President Guaido’s role,” US Secretary of State noted.
Guaido, who took the helm of the National Assembly on Jan. 5, proclaimed himself interim president on Wednesday though Maduro, who has led the oil-rich nation since 2013 and has the support of the armed forces, has refused to stand down.
Maduro cruised to re-election in May last year amid low turnout and allegations of vote-buying by the government.
Britain, Germany, France, Spain and Belgium all said on Saturday they would recognize Guaido as interim president unless Maduro called fresh elections within eight days.
“Europe is giving us eight days? Where do you get that you have the power to establish a deadline or an ultimatum to a sovereign people. It’s almost childlike,” Venezuela’s Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza told the Security Council.
“This is not about foreign intervention in Venezuela,” former US diplomat Elliott Abrams, who Pompeo named on Friday to lead US efforts on Venezuela, told the council.
The United States has signaled it was ready to step up economic measures to try to drive Maduro from power.
On Thursday, the US mission to the United Nations said that it had officially requested an open UNSC session on Saturday to address the current crisis in Venezuela.
On Wednesday, Maduro condemned the decision of a number of countries to recognize Guaido as Venezuela’s acting president, and broke diplomatic ties with Washington.
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