Venezuela crisis: UN calls for dialogue after Opposition leader declares himself interim president
Juan Guaidó is backed by the United States. In response, President Nicolás Maduro cut off diplomatic ties with Washington and told its diplomats to leave.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Thursday called for dialogue to end to Venezuela’s political crisis after Opposition leader Juan Guaidó declared himself interim president a day earlier, AFP reported.
Thirteen people have died since Monday, most of them from gunshot wounds, in the wake of protests sparked by a rebellion by 27 soldiers in Caracas against President Nicolás Maduro. The soldiers asked citizens to take to the streets. Opposition leader Guaidó has been leading the agitation.
On Wednesday, after Guaidó called a march, anti-riot police confronted protestors. The military fired tear gas and rubber bullets, while protestors threw stones at them.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that an escalation of the violence “would be a disaster for the people of Venezuela and for the region”.
“Sovereign governments have the possibility to decide whatever they want,” he said at the World Economic Forum in Davos. “What we are worried [about] with the situation in Venezuela is the suffering of the people of Venezuela.”.
.@antonioguterres urges all in Venezuela to lower tension & pursue every effort to avoid violence. He calls for an inclusive political dialogue to address the protracted crisis in the country, with full respect for human rights & rule of law. Read here: https://t.co/wlaKQTo0sp
— UN Spokesperson (@UN_Spokesperson) January 24, 2019
After the Donald Trump administration recognised Guaidó as president, Maduro on Wednesday cut diplomatic ties with the United States and gave American diplomats 72 hours to leave the country. A number of South American countries, including Brazil, Colombia and Peru, have also recognised Guaidó as Venezuela’s legitimate president
Venezuela under Maduro has been in an economic free fall. Hyperinflation, power cuts and shortages of basic necessities have driven millions of people out of the country.
UN’s World Food Programme President David Beasley described the situation as “heartbreaking”. “We know that people are starving in Venezuela,” he said. “We know that it is not isolated incidents of hunger in Venezuela. It is widespread.”
Beasley said he hoped that the UN agency would gain access to the country to be able to provide desperately needed assistance, “regardless of what government is in place”. Maduro’s government has not allowed the World Food Programme into the country, and the agency only works in border areas to help those fleeing Venezuela.